Three Muslim Family Members Killed near UNC-Chapel Hill

The murder of three young American Muslims was said by the police to be caused by an on-going dispute over a parking space. The gunner, Craig Hicks, was known to have hatred toward these students because of their ethnicity and religion. Father of 21 year old Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha and 19 year old Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha explains that this was a hate crime, fore Hicks has picked on his daughter and her husband, 23 year old Deah Barakat, a few times before. "…he talked to them with a gun in his belt. And they were always uncomfortable with him, but they did not know he would go this far." Karen, Hicks' wife, expressed that this wasn't a crime because of their religion, it was over a parking dispute he's been having with them for awhile now. However, Hicks' facebook page clearly shows how hateful he is towards any religion, stating that he dishonors anyone that follows a religion.

By Wednesday morning, the day after the murders, tweeter blew up with the hashtag #MuslimLivesMatter, aiming towards the media and how they weren't reporting anything about this tragic event. 

I am personally very disappointed with the mainstream media for not immediately repotting this event as "Breaking News." Being a Muslim American myself, this event is a very heavy topic for me, especially knowing that one of my close friends was distant cousins with Deah Barakat. I found out about this through twitter Tuesday night and I was instantly trying to find news articles about it. After finding one that was 7 lines short, I was outraged. I honestly believe that if this was the other way around, being that a Muslim man was behind the gun, it would have been all over the place and they would have already named the man a terrorist. It was obvious that this was a hate crime and Hicks should be labeled as a terrorist; he did terrorize younger Americans; if that's not what terrorism is, then I obviously don't know what is… The attack in Paris went worldwide instantly, but it's already been 2 days and barely anyone has heard about this. #ChapelHillShooting #IAmDeah #IAmYusor #IAmRazan

Questions:

Do you believe that there is a double standard with the mainstream media when it comes to portraying news about a certain group?

Do you believe that there should have been more news coverage on this event?

Why do you think there is a dispute about whether or not this was a hate crime or just a problem about a parking space? Why do you think it matters to confirm the cause of the event?

source: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/muslim-family-members-killed-n-man-cops-article-1.2110661