Tuesday, Albuquerque police announced an arrest in connection with the murders of four Muslim men. The killings began in November 2021 and ended on August 1, 2022. According to Albuquerque Deputy Police Chief Kyle Hartsock, “There’s one strong commonality in all of our victims — their race and religion.”

On November 7, 2021, Mohammed Ahmadi, a 62-year-old immigrant from Afghanistan, was found dead of a gunshot wound in a parking lot behind a business he operated.

Aftab Hussein, a 41-year-old immigrant from Afghanistan, was found dead of gunshot wounds on July 26, 2022.

Muhammad Afzaal Hussain 27, a planning director for the city of Española and immigrant from Pakistan, was shot to death outside his apartment on August 1. Later that week, 25-year-old Naeem Hussain, also a Pakistani immigrant, was gunned down.

The usual suspects led the charge in decrying bigotry and racism.

CAIR offered a $10,000 reward for information on the killings.

“This tragedy is impacting not only the Muslim community – but all Americans,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. “We must be united against hate and violence regardless of the race, faith or background of the victims or the perpetrators. We urge anyone with information about these crimes to come forward by contacting law enforcement.”

In a statement, CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:

“The lives of Albuquerque Muslims are in danger. Whoever is responsible for this horrific, hateful shooting spree must be identified and stopped – now.” 

The Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity grifters grabbed the spotlight.

In a press conference on Saturday, Albuquerque police said that Naeem Hussain was ambushed and shot on Friday in a similar attack as with three previous murders of Muslim men.

“We can not denounce strongly enough what appears to be the targeting of people because of their race and religion,” Michelle Melendez of the APD’s Office of Equity and Inclusion said during the press conference.

Seriously, are we going to apply diversity, inclusion, and equity quotas to murder victims?

I am angered and saddened by the horrific killings of four Muslim men in Albuquerque. While we await a full investigation, my prayers are with the victims’ families, and my Administration stands strongly with the Muslim community.

These hateful attacks have no place in America.

— President Biden (@POTUS) August 7, 2022

I am deeply disturbed by the killings of four Muslim men in Albuquerque. As law enforcement continues to investigate these heinous attacks, we remain clear that we stand with the Muslim community in New Mexico and around our country. Hate has no place in America.

— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) August 7, 2022

You see what’s happening here, right? In the absence of any evidence, the whole investigation focused on a “hate crime” motive, and you know they have a white Trump supporter in mind for the perp.

The Albuquerque Police Department created a webpage for tips that included the major lead the police had on the killings.

Based on a tip, the police arrested a suspect.

Albuquerque police have detained and charged a man they say is the “primary suspect” in the killings of four Muslim men, Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina tweeted Tuesday.

The man has been identified as Muhammad Syed, 51, according to a police news release.

The killings took place between November 2021 and August of this year, with the latest three occurring within the span of two weeks. All of the victims were of South Asian descent.

Authorities detained Syed, then searched his home and vehicle, which ultimately led them to discover “additional evidence that further tied Syed to the murders,” the release said. Police said during a news conference Tuesday that the findings included evidence that shows Syed knew the victims to some extent and that an interpersonal conflict may have led to the shootings.

Medina told reporters Tuesday the department did not want to label the shootings a hate crime or attribute the actions to a serial killer because “it would’ve been irresponsible for us as a police department to say that and further drive fear into a community that was already in fear.”

“We still don’t have any indication that either of these topics or labels would’ve been appropriate,” Medina said.

The claim that the shootings were not classified as a hate crime is sort of laughable, given the statements made during the investigation. What is also amusing is the way that CNN plays coy with the motivation: “an interpersonal conflict may have led to the shootings.” The New York Times reported on the same press conference this way:

On Tuesday, the police said they had arrested a man who was himself Muslim and who may have targeted at least two of the victims because he was angry that his daughter had married a man from the other major branch of Islam.

So we have successfully imported the cultures from Afghanistan and Pakistan to the US. I’d think this is enough of a win for the Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity folks that they can take a long weekend.

The bottom line is that the killings were an intramural affair between Muslim sects. The only hatred of Muslims involved was that of one branch of Islam for the adherents of a different branch. Donald Trump had nothing to do with it.

One wonders how much sooner this affair would have been put to bed if the police had followed the standard practice of assuming the victim and perpetrator have had interaction rather than chasing the rabbit of anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant bias.