People have rallied around the #MuslimLivesMatter hashtag to protest the lack of media attention to the killings
Another gun tragedy has rattled America after three young Muslims were shot dead in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21, and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, were murdered in their home by a gunman who has since turned himself into police.
Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, has been charged with three counts of murder. Police say that there is no further danger to the public.
Deah Shaddy Barakat, a dental student at North Carolina University, and his wife Yusor Mohammad were newlyweds. Barakat was heavily involved with charity work and helped raise funds for Syrian refugees. His sister-in-law, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, had recently enrolled at North Carolina State University to study architecture.
People are getting really, really pissed off over the media attention (or lack thereof) paid to this tragic event:
This is UNBEFRICKINGLIEVABLE. I didn't hear about the #ChapelHillShooting of 3 Muslim students until SOMEONE SENT ME A DM. #MediaHypocrisy
— Hend (@LibyaLiberty) February 11, 2015
Here are the important stories that top news sites are covering right now instead of the #ChapelHillShooting: pic.twitter.com/n62dSfPUaH
— JRehling (@JRehling) February 11, 2015
Others have rallied online around the #MuslimLivesMatter hashtag, drawing parallels between the marginalised experience of African-Americans and Muslims in the country:
We cannot live in our country and not feel safe. This is the experience of many communities. #BlackLivesMatter#MuslimLivesMatter
— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) February 11, 2015
MUSLIM LIVES MATTER. THIS WILL NOT BE THROWN UNDER THE RUG BY WHITE MEDIA. MUSLIM. LIVES. MATTER. #MuslimLivesMatter
— Tasnim (@neuroluv) February 11, 2015
If this were a Muslim man, killing 3 white Americans, there would be mass hysteria and the terror alert raised to HIGH. #MuslimLivesMatter
— Chris Millington (@ChrisJohnMilly) February 11, 2015
So where was US mainstream media on this? CNN is yet to even report it, even on @nnbrk, its Twitter account for breaking news. Fox News only just published a news story on the shooting. Guess it's left to us weird, crazy liberals to spread the word!
Here's a reminder of where Fox News stand on that whole "killing Muslims" thing:
Be shocked. Be saddened. But don't act surprised when news networks are broadcasting this #ChapelHillShootinghttps://t.co/xCm6cHi7ST
— Glen Coco (@MrPooni) February 11, 2015
People have been quick to point out the obvious: the victims were all Muslims. The shooter was white. In a post-9/11 world, we already have a pre-existing media narrative for this:
Muslim shooter = entire religion guilty Black shooter = entire race guilty White shooter = mentally troubled lone wolf 💯 accurate 👌
— You're so hot so i (@Tabzy_786) February 5, 2015
The motive for the shooting remains unknown, and it is unclear if the act was religiously or racially motivated. But for Muslims around the world, the attack is one reminder of the increase in Islamophobic attacks across the world in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo shooting. And the lack of press attention paid to the horrific deaths of three Muslim college students? Well, that's just par for the course.
Remember them like this. Deah and Yusor had names, dreams and families. #MuslimLivesMatterpic.twitter.com/G6YF06gXyO
— MohaNNad أبو مازن (@TheMoeDee) February 11, 2015