On Saturday, Imam Maulama Akonjee and his assistant Thara Uddin were shot and killed as they walked through Queens, New York after prayers. Oscar Morel, 35, has been charged over the killings, although police have not announced a motive for the attack.
But whether or not the incident is formally classified as a “hate crime,” and many in New York’s Muslim community have argued strongly that it should be, it highlights the growing threat to Muslims living amid rising Islamophobia in the United States.
