Revelation 6:3-4 NCV When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" Then another horse came out, a red one. Its rider was given power to take away peace (prosperity, rest) from the earth and to make people kill each other (butcher, slaughter, to maim violently, in streets), and he was given a big sword (assassins sword, terrorist, loud, mighty, sore afraid).
Is it a hate crime or not?
That’s the question being investigated by the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office after a 46-year-old man gunned down three Muslim students near the campus of the University of North Carolina Tuesday.
Craig Hicks turned himself into police after the execution style killings of Deah Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Abu-Salha, 21 and Abu-Salha’s sister Razan. Barakat was a student at the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry.
Hicks claims that he shot the three because of a dispute over parking arrangements in their condominium complex. However, many residents claim that Hicks was a violent, angry atheist that openly spoke out about his hate toward all faiths.
Hicks has a social media account where he shared his love of Richard Dawkins’ book “The God Delusion”, said he was a supporter of “Atheists for Equality” and spoke of the commonality between Muslims and Christians.
“Of course I want religion to go away,” his Facebook cover reads. “I don’t deny you your right to believe whatever you’d like, but I have the right to point out it’s ignorant and dangerous for as long as your baseless superstitions keep killing people.”
Police said initial indications were the shooting was related to the parking problem but were open to it being more.
“Our investigators are exploring what could have motivated Mr. Hicks to commit such a senseless and tragic act,” Chapel Hill Police Chief Chris Blue said in a statement. “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.”
