US police say killings of four Muslim men may be linked
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Police in the US state of New Mexico are investigating the murders of three Muslim men, which could be linked to another murder last year.
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US police say killings of four Muslim men may be linked.
Police in the US state of New Mexico announced Saturday that they are looking into the murders of three Muslim males, which they believe are connected to a fourth homicide last year.
The latest victim was discovered overnight Friday, according to the Albuquerque Police Department. They did not name him, but said he was in his mid-20s, Muslim, and a "South Asian native."
"Investigators believe Friday's murder may be connected to three recent murders of Muslim men also from South Asia," the statement said.
Previous victims included two Muslim Pakistani men, a 27-year-old whose body was discovered on August 1 and a 41-year-old whose body was discovered on July 26.
Detectives are now looking into whether these murders are linked to the death of a Muslim man from Afghanistan on November 7, 2021, outside of the shop he managed with his brother in Albuquerque, according to the statement.
The police requested anyone with information to contact a tip line, and the FBI confirmed it was aiding with the probe.
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham condemned the attacks and showed support for the state's Muslim community.
"The targeted killings of Muslim residents of Albuquerque is deeply angering and wholly intolerable," Lujan Grisham said on Twitter. She stated that she was sending more state police officers to Albuquerque to assist in the probe.
"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 Muslim civil rights organization in the United States, said on Saturday that anyone who gives information leading to the killer's arrest will get a $10,000 prize.
"This tragedy is impacting not only the Muslim community -- but all Americans," CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a statement.
"We must be united against hate and violence regardless of the race, faith or background of the victims or the perpetrators."
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