Hate Crime in California? Muslim Women Beaten to Death in El Cajon Hate Note Left
A sad, troubling ending from story from El Cajon, CA (near where I live). A Muslim woman found beatened nearly to death drowned in her own blood with a note saying: “Go back to your own country.”
Read the details via AP and then watch the wrenching video of her daughter’s message — which is worth a “ditto.” The sad ending:
A woman from Iraq who was found beaten next to a threatening note saying “go back to your country” has died, and police are investigating the possibility of a hate crime.
Hanif Mohebi, the director of the San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Shaima Alawadi was taken off life support Saturday afternoon.
“The family is in shock at the moment. They’re still trying to deal with what happened,” said Mohebi, who met with family members.
Alawadi, a 32-year-old mother of five, had been hospitalized since her 17-year-old daughter found her unconscious in the dining room of the family’s suburban San Diego house on Wednesday, police Lt. Steve Shakowski said.
“A hate crime is one of the possibilities, and we will be looking at that,” Lt. Mark Coit said. “We don’t want to focus on only one issue and miss something else.”
And here is what the devastated daughter said in a news interview before her mother finally died from the beating:
Share This
Will Sharpton fly to this one?
Cute comment but as much as I hate the phrase if there was ever a “false equivancy” this is one. There is no suspect. There is no issue with a law. This seems to be a hate crime, no way anyone can argue or try to argue it. It’s a flat out murder with a hate letter. Years ago when I was a reporter on the SD Union I did some stories dealing with minorities and I got a big, fat package of KKK style material against Jews and blacks. I also got a threatening phone call. All the nuts are not in Whole Foods or at Safeway (or writing conspiracy theories about Trayvon Martin on weblogs). But this sounds like an outright hate murder, a lynching without a rope.
I would be stunned to find that this was not the work of a close male relative. Always look in the household for the killer, first. What is the motive for a total stranger?
I also wonder how the liberal press will cover this issue given the fact this is a muslim and not someone that looks like Obama’s daughters. This is as bad, if not worse than the shooting in Florida given the fact she was in her own home. There is no question if this was murder. And will Obama comment on this the same as his comment on the Florida killing? Seems like if one warrants his commentary, this one also should warrant his comment at a news conference.
But I have not seen anything on our local news or the national news (NBC) yet. It may have been covered and I may have missed that newscast.
RP, you won’t see much on this. it is unfortunately an almost typical event, and as Joe pointed out doesn’t involve a controversial law as in the excuse to kill law in FL.
P.S., I agree with Vera, could have been a relative or the family of some wronged man.
Vera
This might have been done by a relative, many murders are, or it could be something quite different. Once again, speculating before all the facts are known is interesting, but futile.
I would think that by this time every competent police department would check the family out first. If it is a hate crime, it is odd, because those are usually in a public place and random acts where the victim and aggressor are unknown to each other. There could be another reason, of course, given the employment of the woman’s husband.
How better to try to derail a police investigation than to place a hate crime note next to a body which will cause needless trails to be followed and will cause public pressure to arrest someone NOW?
@Vera. That’s where I’d start too. Let us see. We’ll keep following, either JoeG or others of us here. If you see any updates, let us know too. I’ve written many posts at TMV about ‘dishonor murders’… and let us see what her dad and any brothers or other male relatives have to say too…
It saddens me that there has been so little coverage on this crime- keep us informed!
Why would a male relative write such a note? Of course everyone should be questioned, but that piece justdoesn’t add up.
And holy hell dduck, you are a cynical cuss.
I am what I am.
roro: A male relative would write the note to throw off suspicion. It is actually so common that the police have tended to look first to who would try to throw off suspicion. In this case, a Muslim relative might have figured that using the family’s religion would allow him to walk under the radar.
Meanwhile, consider the opposite: why would a hater of Iraqis decide to go after a woman who has been in the US longer than she has been out of it? At what point does one decide, “Gee, there are all sorts of immigrants from the Middle East, but I’ll take on this woman who has been in the country for 19 years and has 5 American born children”?
yeah, this is an inside job. A member of the family or a close friend.
RP I don’t get into comments a lot but yours is so typical of the toxicity that has infected our politics. Right away you take this tragedy and turn it into something about the “liberal press” and Obama. Except for those consumed by political and other hatreds your comment says so much about the way you view things, not the press. FYI as someonone who worked in the press for many years it continues to be laughable the crap about the “liberal press” when anyone who has worked for a newspaper knows that editorial operations (the editorials on the editorial page) and editors/reporters are separate. You can;t even view a tragedy like this without turning int into part of the trite, tiresome and turn off to independent voters ideology wars. If you take a bit of time I bet yo will find that my old employer the San Diego Union is covering the hell out of it as are local stations. A woman was murdered she left a devastated daughter. And all you can respond with is liberal press and Obama. It’s a reflection of values…sadly.
There is so much hate in the world. Sometimes it’s just too much..
(Thank-you Joe for weighing in. I know you prefer not to.)
zephyr: quite right.
Each of us has so little influence. I try to keep my own little sphere of influence as loving as I can. Even that is difficult enough and has plenty of huge shortcomings.
Rcoutme, If this was a hate crime committed for the purpose of intimidation of Iraqi immigrants or Muslims in general, there’s no reason to think that the killer had any knowledge of her family. I think it’s giving too much credit to those who kill because of fear and hate of the other to think that such a thought process would have gone on.
It sounds from this woman’s bio that she was a go-getter and a person who was attempting to work on healing between Muslim Americans and the larger American culture. That certainly could lead to anger on the part of more traditional members of her Muslim community, or on the part of non-Muslim people. I’m glad that the police involved are looking at all possibilities. Working toward peace among two groups with intrenched mutual distrust can be a very dangerous line of work, and I commend this woman for trying. I hope her killer or killers are brought to justice.
I can appreciate the police proceeding cautiously with this case. The note seems very convenient, but just as the police don’t want to miss any possibilities, I’d not want to assume it’s a male family member, either. The fact remains this woman appears to have been murdered. Now, can law enforcement find the real killer/s and bring them to justice?
As far as Obama goes…I believe the only reason he commented on the Trayvon Martin case was due to the continued outrage growing not just nationally, but globally.
It seems the Trayvon Martin case has garnered the attention of many around the world. Many have also came to the conclusion that things don’t make sense regarding the “self-defense” claim, but some are indicting us as the “self-appointed world’s moral authority, and they can’t even police their own.”–paraphrased.
Anyway, I believe it’s not inappropriate for ANY president to make a public statement when the response to a crime and the investigation of that crime has led to growing public discontent, especially since race seems to be a motivating factor from both sides of the controversy.
With the amount of senseless violence in this country, like this apparent murder, is it reasonable for a president to make a public statement of sympathy for all murders? Or, should such responses be tempered by the circumstances of the case, especially when the public begins to hold rallies and protests?
Whether or not President Obama made a statement, either side would condemn him for doing it…or not doing it. However, if he truly wants to express his sympathy and compassion to the murdered loved ones of the citizens he “leads”, I see nothing wrong with a letter of condolence being sent to the immediate family…no speech writer needed for that; no need to make a public statement.
As far as I’m concerned, I believe the nation has become desensitized to the murder of its citizens…”that’s just life in America”, I fear…until it becomes personal.