President Obama Strongly Condemns The Murder of 3 Muslim Students In Chapel Hill

President Obama issued a statement on the murders of three students in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, saying, “No one in the United States of America should ever be targeted because of who they are, what they look like, or how they worship.”

The President’s full statement:

Yesterday, the FBI opened an inquiry into the brutal and outrageous murders of Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, Deah Shaddy Barakat, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In addition to the ongoing investigation by local authorities, the FBI is taking steps to determine whether federal laws were violated. No one in the United States of America should ever be targeted because of who they are, what they look like, or how they worship. Michelle and I offer our condolences to the victims’ loved ones. As we saw with the overwhelming presence at the funeral of these young Americans, we are all one American family. Whenever anyone is taken from us before their time, we remember how they lived their lives – and the words of one of the victims should inspire the way we live ours.

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“Growing up in America has been such a blessing,” Yusor said recently. “It doesn’t matter where you come from. There’s so many different people from so many different places, of different backgrounds and religions – but here, we’re all one.”

It’s particularly poignant for this President, the recipient of relentless, virulent hatred based on his skin color and misguided fallacies about his religious beliefs (which shouldn’t matter anyway), to speak about the meaning of freedom. It’s ironic that often the very folks targeting others based on what they look like or how they worship do so under the banner of “freedom”.

Sarah Jones

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