Biden denounces killings of four Muslims in US city
WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Joe Biden on Sunday (Aug 7) deplored the killings of four Muslim men in New Mexico, which police say may be linked.
"I am angered and saddened by the horrific killings of four Muslim men in Albuquerque," the US president said on Twitter. "While we await a full investigation, my prayers are with the victims' families, and my Administration stands strongly with the Muslim community. These hateful attacks have no place in America."
Police in Albuquerque, New Mexico's largest city, said Saturday they are investigating the murders of three Muslim men that they now suspect are related to a fourth homicide from last year.
The Albuquerque police department said in a statement they had discovered the latest victim overnight Friday. His body was discovered near a Lutheran Family Services office that provides assistance to refugees, TV station KOB4 reported.
Police did not identify the man but said he was in his mid-20s, Muslim and "a native from South Asia."
"Investigators believe Friday's murder may be connected to three recent murders of Muslim men also from South Asia," the statement said. Two of the previous victims were Muslim Pakistani men, a 27-year-old whose body was found on August 1 and a 41-year-old who was found on July 26.
Detectives are now investigating whether these murders are connected to the death of a Muslim man from Afghanistan who was killed on November 7, 2021, outside of the business he ran with his brother in Albuquerque, the statement said. The police urged anyone with information to call a tip line and said the FBI was assisting with the investigation.
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham expressed outrage at the killings, calling them "wholly intolerable," and said she was sending additional state police officers to Albuquerque to aid in the investigation. She said she was sending additional state police officers to Albuquerque to help with the investigation.
"We will continue to do everything we can to support to the Muslim community of Albuquerque and greater New Mexico," she said.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest US Muslim civil rights group, has offered a $10,000 reward to whoever provides information leading to the killer or killers' arrest.
Tensions have risen sharply in the city's Muslim community. "Now, people are beginning to panic," Tahir Gauba, the director of public affairs with the Islamic Center of New Mexico, told the Albuquerque Journal.
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