(Time) When police in Albuquerque announced that they were investigating whether the shooting deaths of four Muslim men in the city were connected — or even targeted — it set off panic from many in the Muslim community. Some isolated at home, fearful to even step out and get groceries. Others fled Albuquerque altogether.
Then came the news that three of the victims were Shi’ite Muslims — members of one of the two major branches of Islam — and the suspect, arrested Tuesday, is Sunni — a member of the largest branch.
The killings, which were originally feared to be anti-Muslim or anti-Asian hate crimes — set off alarms for Shi’ite Muslims across the country — many of whom hoped they had left sectarian violence behind when their families came to the U.S. One of the victims, Naeem Hussain, who was killed Aug. 5, was a refugee from Sunni-majority Pakistan who came to America in 2016 to flee persecution for his Shi’ite beliefs.
