According to CNN, three students were shot and killed on Feb. 10 near the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The alleged shooter, Craig Stephen Hicks, claims that it was over a parking dispute. However, there is substantial evidence to suggest, at the very least, something far more unpleasant had occurred.

Could a mere parking dispute incite such immediate violence? Perhaps not.

The victims, Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha, and Razan Abu-Salha were all Muslims.

Although it has yet to be concluded, there are many signs indicating that the incident may have been a hate crime. Hicks is an atheist, which on its own, says nothing. However, he reportedly began to exhibit confrontational behavior at approximately the same time that the victims’ religion became clear, according to the family of one victim.

In addition to this, there are reports of a Facebook post that very obviously displayed a substantial degree of hostility toward an unnamed religion.

There could be something more to this than simply a “parking dispute.” If it were more common in our society for people to be shot over small matters such as this, there would be a self-evident problem.

That being said, one cannot adequately express with human pity how pathetic it must be to have said that you shot three innocent people over a parking dispute. Do not insult the entirety of humanity with as lame an explanation as that.

There is the possibility that Hicks may have been suffering some extreme mental duress. The volatile combination of his distaste for religion, the so-called “parking dispute,” and his divorce from his wife could have all come to head in the form of a psychotic episode where he shot three people–who may never have wronged him–in the head, execution style. However, this is mere speculation based on a series of reports from the sources available.

Regardless of what Hicks’ motives truly were, whether fueled by hatred or instability, they are nothing short of detestable.

Presuming, however, that this was indeed a hate crime, the situation becomes infinitely more indefensible.

Violence against any individual because of their race, creed, or any other aspect of their person is directly contrary to what it means to be an American. The victims of this crime had just as much right to practice their faith as anyone else, and if Hicks’ crime truly was influenced by hate, he was trying to strip them of their right to their faith.

No one has the right to do that.

If someone violates that pillar upon which this country is built, America weeps, for the ignorance of the few is just enough to lay the liberty of the many to ruin.

Contact the writer:
[email protected]