A Kansas City, Missouri, man is in custody following an alleged hate crime Thursday night in which a Muslim teenager died.
Thirty-four-year-old Ahmed H. Aden allegedly drove his SUV into 15-year-old Abdisamad Sheikh-Hussein as the teen was leaving the Somali Center of Kansas City, ABC News reports . The Muslim teen was sit so hard that witnesses described him as “flying through the air.” His legs were nearly severed from the crash, and he lost a lot of blood at the scene.
Meanwhile, Aden got out of his SUV, and according to witnesses, brandished a knife, baseball, and gun, and threatened witnesses, before running away. He was apprehended by police a short time later.
According to WDAF (Kansas City), Aden had been threatening the Kansas City Somali Muslim community for some time leading up to the teen’s killing. Several people associated with the Somali Center said that the man, also from Somalia, had been posting threatening messages against Muslims on Facebook, and had on at least one occasion threatened to kill a man because he’s a Muslim. That man, Abdul Mohamed, told WDAF what happened.
“A month or two ago he came to the Somali mall, two blocks from here. Things got bad, they started arguing and he pulled a gun.”
The alleged killer was also known to cruise around a nearby shopping center in an SUV decorated with anti-Islam images and statements, including one that read “Islam is worse than Ebola.”
Khadra Dirir, the teen victim’s aunt, told WDAF that she believes what happened is a hate crime.
“Our family is very destroyed at what happened. He’s a sweet, loving kid. He doesn’t deserve this. I’m pretty sure it’s a hate crime from things I’ve been hearing. I hope that someone brings him to justice.”
Mohamed Ahmed, 13, of Kansas City, was concerned about the lack of police response to the anti-Muslim threats coming from the man before the fatal attack.
“I would have thought the police would have taken care of it, but they didn’t.”
The Heartland Muslim Council issued a statement calling on federal authorities to investigate the murder of the Muslim teen as a hate crime .
“Kansas City Muslim community is deeply shocked at the hit and run… The attack resulted in the death of a teenager and serious injuries to another teenager. Our thoughts and prayers for the victims and their families and friends. We ask the federal law enforcement authorities to investigate this attack as a possible hate crime.”
The Kansas City Star reports that the FBI is, in fact, investigating the murder of the Muslim teen as a hate crime.
[Image courtesy of: Raw Story ]