Possible serial killer targeting Muslims in New Mexico

Authorities are investigating the possibility that a serial killer has been hunting Muslim people in Albuquerque, New Mexico after four men of the faith were murdered there in the past year.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Saturday that she deployed additional state police to help with the probe into the “targeted killings.”

“The targeted killings of Muslim residents of Albuquerque is deeply angering and wholly intolerable,” she wrote on Twitter.

“We will not stop in our pursuit of justice for the victims and their families and are bringing every resource to bear to apprehend the killer or killers — and we WILL find them,” the Democrat said in a statement.

She added: “I am angered and saddened that this is happening in New Mexico, a place that prides itself on diversity of culture and thought. This is not who we are.”

The statement did not provide details on whether investigators have any leads or confirm if the killings are connected.

An unnamed Muslim man was murdered Friday night, following the shooting of Muhammad Afzaal Hussain on Monday, police said.

Hussain’s killing comes after Aftab Hussein was murdered on July 26 and Mohammad Ahmadi was killed in November 2021.

Hussain and Hussein were both Pakistani and went to the same mosque, according to the New York Times. The slayings have prompted an outcry in Albuquerque’s close-knit Muslim community. Less than one percent of the two million people in New Mexico are Muslim, according to the Pew Research Center.

“We are incredibly sickened with the idea that someone has this much hate against innocent people,” Ahmad Assed, leader of the Islamic Center of New Mexico, said, according to the Times. “We’re scared for our families, we’re scared for our children. And we are incredibly confused about why this is happening.”

President Biden expressed solidarity with the local Muslim community on Sunday.

“While we await a full investigation, my prayers are with the victims’ families, and my administration stands strongly with the Muslim community,” Biden said in a Twitter post. “These hateful attacks have no place in America.”

With Post wires