Rumored Atheist Craig Stephen Hicks Kills 3 Muslim Students At Chapel Hill Shooting, Richard Dawkins Condemns 'Vile Murder' [PHOTO]
This past Wednesday, 46-year-old Craig Stephen Hicks shot three Muslim students to death near the University of North Carolina campus. According to the New York Times, the shooting occurred due to a neighborhood parking dispute, and has left Hicks charged with three counts of first-degree murder.
Those killed in the shooting were Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Mohammad, 21, both of Chapel Hill, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, of Raleigh. The nature of the shootings has led some to that it occurred due to an anti-Muslim bias. Chapel Hill police Chief Chris Blue recently stated, "We understand the concerns about the possibility that this was hate-motivated, and we will exhaust every lead to determine if that is the case."
According to the Huffington Post, Hicks' wife Karen Hicks believes that the shooting had nothing to do with the victims' Muslim faith. She stated, "I can say that it is my absolute belief that this incident had nothing up do with religion or the victims' faith, but in fact was related to long-standing parking disputes my husband had with various neighbors regardless of their race, religion or creed."
However, a media storm has already erupted as it has been rumored that Hicks was an atheist. Posts have circulated online that show Hicks' alleged statement, "When it comes to insults, your religion started this, not me. If your religion kept its big mouth shut, so would I." He also posted a photo on his Facebook page captioned, "Praying is pointless, useless, narcissistic, arrogant, and lazy; just like the imaginary god you pray to."
Though the quote has not been verified, that didn't stop famed atheist Richard Dawkins from publicly condemning the shooting on Twitter. According to the Huffington Post, Dawkins tweeted on Wednesday, "How could any decent person NOT condemn the vile murder of three young US Muslims in Chapel Hill?"
Other outbreaks on Twitter include the hashtag #MuslimLivesMatter, which is trending worldwide and questions the shooting's lack of coverage in the media. What is your take on the issue?
