DETROIT — Last weekend, Metro Detroit’s Arab American community commemorated the lives of the three victims of the Chapel Hill shootings, Deah Shaddy Barakat, his wife, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, through a series of events organized to express solidarity with the victims and their families. 

The events included a prayer ceremony for the victims at the Islamic Center of America on Friday, Feb. 13; a breakfast at the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights on Sunday, Feb. 15 and a memorial service later the same day at the American Muslim Center in Dearborn. 

Community members and leaders condemned the attacks and spoke out against terrorism at the events. On Tuesday, Feb. 10 the victims were murdered execution style at their home in Chapel Hill, with gunshot wounds to the head. The suspect,  a White male neighbor, was arrested on three counts of first-degree murder. There is an ongoing debate about whether the students’ murder was a hate crime. Local police initially suggested the killings had been the result of a parking dispute. 

Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News; U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn); 19th District Court Judge Sam Salamey; Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi of the Islamic House of Wisdom and ADC Michigan Director Fatina Abdrabboh were among those who spoke at some of the events on Sunday. 

Abdrabboh reminded worshipers in both mosques that “given the recent spate of hate attacks around the country, we need to be vigilant and take any perceived threats very seriously.” She also encouraged people to call 911 should they ever feel threatened, no matter the circumstances. 

Elahi said he believes the victims were killed in a hate crime. “This tragedy was extremely sad and heartbreaking,” he said. “It was about race, religion, hate and hypocrisy and not a parking dispute,” Elahi said.