Autopsy shows Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was killed by sniper’s bullet to head
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The Director of the Government Affairs Department at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) calls on the US Department of Justice to investigate Eygi's killing.
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Hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gather at Westlake Park and marched on streets to protest against "Israel", in Seattle, Washington, United States on September 7, 2024, after 26-year-old Turkish-American woman Aysenur Ezgi was killed in Nablus, as she was standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people. (Anadolu via Getty Images)
An autopsy report has confirmed that Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was killed by a sniper's bullet to the head, Nablus Governor Ghassan Daghlas announced on Saturday, the Anadolu Agency reported.
The United Nations rights office said that Eygi, 26, was "shot in the head" while attending a demonstration in the town of Beita in the occupied West Bank, on Friday.
Fouad Nafaa, Director of the Rafidia Hospital, told Anadolu that Eygi arrived with a gunshot wound to the head and, despite efforts by medical teams, succumbed to her injuries.
Eygi was a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a pro-Palestinian organization, and was participating in a regular demonstration against Israeli settlements, ISM indicated.
Daghlas told Anadolu that the autopsy results determined that Eygi died from a sniper-inflicted gunshot wound, with the bullet specifically targeting her head before she was transported to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead upon arrival.
Muslim-American advocacy group calls on DoJ to probe Eygi's killing
On Friday, a Muslim-American advocacy group called on the US Department of Justice to investigate Eygi's killing.
"I write to request that the Justice Department investigate and prosecute the Israeli officials, soldiers, and settlers responsible for committing violent crimes against Palestinian-Americans, including slain journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, and peace activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers today in the Occupied West Bank," said Robert S. McCaw, Director of the Government Affairs Department at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), in a letter.
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi is not the first American activist to be killed by the Israeli occupation.
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) September 8, 2024
Here's a brief history of "Israel's" killings of American activists. pic.twitter.com/EodJIy331G
He asserted that "CAIR calls on the DOJ, working in coordination with FBI and Department of State, to immediately investigate and prosecute the horrific murder of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi."
McCaw emphasized that Eygi's life was "violently" taken, with eyewitness accounts still emerging as her body remains at the Rafidia Hospital in Nablus.
"In light of this heinous act of violence, we demand the US government act on its own accord and not passively defer to Israeli investigations, which time and again have resulted in predictable exoneration," he stressed, adding that CAIR expects the Justice Department to respond "immediately and decisively."
Eygi's family has called for an independent investigation into her death, accusing the Israeli military of killing her "violently".
"Her presence in our lives was taken needlessly, unlawfully, and violently by the Israeli military," the family expressed in a statement.
"A US citizen, Aysenur was peacefully standing for justice when she was killed by a bullet that video shows came from an Israeli military shooter," the statement pointed out.
"We call on President (Joe) Biden, Vice President (Kamala) Harris, and Secretary of State (Antony) Blinken to order an independent investigation into the unlawful killing of a US citizen and to ensure full accountability for the guilty parties."
