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Students remember victims of North Carolina shooting with vigil

Students gather on the steps of Brower Commons to celebrate the lives of Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha and Razan Abu-Salha with a candlelight vigil. – Photo by Colin Pieters

Students somberly congregated on the front steps of Brower Commons last night, with more than fifty pairs of hands clasping candles to honor the lives of Deah Shaddy Barakat, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, the three students that were shot at point-blank range by Craig Stephen Hicks over a parking dispute the evening of Feb. 10 in Chapel Hill, N.C. at the Finley Forest Condominium complex.

Hicks, 46, turned himself over to authorities in the early hours of Feb. 11, where he was charged with three counts of first-degree murder.

Standing in the crowd on the College Avenue campus was Nigma Mohamed, a friend of the three victims and a recent transfer from North Carolina State University, where Barakat graduated from and sisters Yusor and Razan Abu-Salha were attending.

Mohamed’s voice trembled as she remembered 23-year-old Barakat and 21-year-old Yusor Abu-Salha, who wed on Dec. 27, and the Abu-Salha family’s 19-year-old daughter, Razan.

“They were gifts to our Muslim community,” said the School of Arts and Sciences junior, cradling her dripping candle between gloved hands. “They did so much charity work and fundraising for causes they were passionate about. Their efforts made a huge difference, and they were so well-known to the community. Losing them was a huge and tragic loss.”

Barakat, a second-year student in the School of Dentistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, started a state chapter of humanitarian organization United Muslim Relief with his wife, fundraised for his foundation, Syrian Dental Relief and brought dental supplies and food to the homeless population during his free time, Mohamed said.

Yusor Abu-Salha, who had recently been accepted as a student to UNC’s School of Dentistry and was to start the program in the fall, was also involved in humanitarian efforts, providing aid to needy populations with her husband and sister by her side, she said.

Mohamed, a member of United Muslim Relief and Palestine Children’s Relief Fund at Rutgers, said she doubted Hick’s explanation that he killed the three students over a parking dispute and believed it was instead motivated largely by hate.

The Abu-Salha sisters had previously complained to family members about Hicks, saying they felt unsafe around their neighbor due to derogatory remarks he made regarding their race and religion, she said.

“At this point, we can’t really say what it was because they’re still investigating,” said Samaa Elbery, president of United Muslim Relief at Rutgers.

But she said the Muslim community and many other people feel the issue is about more than just parking, and that the media is trying to hide behind the issue instead of admitting to what she called a blatant case of Islamophobia.

“I hope [people] realize we live in a society where Islamophobia is very much alive and that we need to take steps in changing this mentality,” said Nisa Haider, a School of Arts and Sciences senior and member of Ahul Bayt Student Association.

As the vigil progressed, various students, staff and alumni stepped up to the microphone to speak.

“When I found out about this incident in the early morning, as soon as I woke up, I immediately jumped into what I like to call ‘[Muslim Student Association] president mode,’ where I just thought we needed to talk about how this negatively impacts our community and talk about how Islamophobia is a problem and is rampant and we need to combat it,” said Taufeeq Ahamed, president of the MSA.

But after speaking to “several wise individuals,” Ahamed said the Muslim community leaps to action in the wake of community tragedies and forgets to grieve.

“It’s gotten to a point in our community where we don’t cry anymore,” he said. “We don’t process our pain anymore. We hold in our tears and we merely jump in – we will take action, we will fight Islamophobia … but let’s not forget [Barakat and the Abu-Salhas] were humans and that we have to celebrate their lives.”

He said he never wanted to forget the image of Razan Abu-Salha as a nineteen-year-old, full of life and energy, and Deah Barakat and Yusor Abu-Salha as a happily married couple who loved their faith, family and serving their community.

“I want to remember them,” he said.


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