FW: 10/20 Fremont, CA: Muslim Woman gunned Down, CAIR Says Possible Hate Crime!

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NEWS ALERT: MUSLIM WOMAN GUNNED DOWN IN FREMONT

CAIR-SFBA Concerned of a Possible Hate Crime
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

(Santa Clara, CA, 10/20/06) – On Friday, October 20, 2006, at 3:00 pm, the
Council on American-Islamic Relations, San Francisco Bay Area (CAIR-SFBA),
will hold a news conference to condemn the killing of a Muslim woman in
Fremont, and to call on law enforcement to investigate it as a possible hate
crime.

At the conference, we will also hear from the family members of the victim,
who believe this is a hate crime possibly due to her Islamic dress of hijab
(a head scarf).

The 37-year-old Afghan woman, who was with her child, was gunned down blocks
from her home at 2:40 pm on Thursday, October 19, 2006. The mother of six
was on her way to pick up her children from school.

See: Fremont Woman Shot [below]

Commenting on the crime, CAIR-SFBA Civil Rights Coordinator Abdul Rahman
Hamamsy said, “We call on the police to investigate this issue thoroughly
and on a timely basis, and to determine whether this was a hate crime or
not, especially in light of the actual circumstance of the crime, and in
light of the current political climate.”

WHAT: News Conference Denouncing the Killing, Calling for an End to Hate
Crimes

WHEN: Friday, October 20, 2006, at 3:00 pm.

WHERE: Islamic Society of East Bay, 33330 Peace Terrace, Fremont, CA, 94555.

CAIR’s 2006 Annual Civil Rights Report shows that anti-Muslim hate crime
complaints have increased almost 30 percent. CAIR, America's largest Muslim
civil liberties group, has 32 offices, chapters and affiliates nationwide
and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam,
encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and
build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

- END –


***

Inside Bay Area
http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_4521195 <http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_4521195>

Fremont woman shot
Family member says killing racially motivated

By Ben Aguirre Jr., Eleni Economides and Chris De Benedetti, STAFF WRITERS

Article Last Updated:10/20/2006 08:30:54 AM PDT

FREMONT — A 38-year-old Afghan woman was shot to death Thursday afternoon
while holding her 3-year-old daughter's hand as she headed to pick up her
other children from elementary school, police and relatives said.

Alia Ansari was shot once in the head by a man who drove up next to the
victim to kill her, police and family said.

Sgt. Chris Mazzone would not confirm that the victim was Ansari, but
relatives who were gathered outside her Glenmoor neighborhood apartment said
it was her. It was the city's fourth homicide of the year.

Police were searching late Thursday for the gunman, a dark-skinned man who
may have been black or Latino, Sgt. Jeff Swadener said. The man last was
seen wearing a white T-shirt and dark colored pants, the sergeant said.

By Thursday night, detectives had not revealed a motive for the crime, but
Hamoyon Ansari, the victim's brother, thought it was racially motivated.

"Why else would someone do this? It must be a wacko," he said, adding that
his sister was wearing a hijab, a traditional Muslim head scarf.

Until police make an arrest and interview the shooter, they will not know
why the crime occurred, Swadener said.

"We have no idea why this happened; we're still looking," he said.
"Hopefully, we catch the bad guy and figure out what (the motive) is."

Alia Ansari, who moved to Fremont six years ago from Mazar-e Sharif,
Afghanistan, to be with her husband, Ahmad, was slain about 2:40 p.m. as she
walked on Glenmoor Drive near Central Avenue, police said. She had six
children — five daughters and a son — who range in age from 3 to 13. "She
was a good mother, a happy mother," said Alia Muhtashimi, a family friend of
Ansari who described her as someone who kept to herself and spent her days
cooking, cleaning and caring for her children.

"She was a housewife, a religious woman — from a very nice family," she
said.

Another relative, speaking through a translator, said that Ansari's father
had called his daughter days ago to say he had seen her "in heaven" in his
dream. The dream had somehow become reality, relatives said.

Witnesses told police that a man drove up to Ansari, got out of his car and
fired a single shot. He then sped off in a black Toyota Tercel or BMW with a
rear spoiler.

A witness, who heard the shooting and watched the assailant flee, told The
Argus that Ansari's young daughter was hysterical and ran to the witness for
help.

Minutes after the shooting, officers stopped at least two similar cars — one
in Fremont and another in Newark — but no one had been arrested Thursday
evening in connection with the slaying, Mazzone said.

Alia Ansari is a blood relative of Rahim Ansari, who was killed Jan. 8,
2002, in his family's Centerville travel agency, her relatives said.

Union City resident Khoja Shujai was arrested and charged with murder in
that case, but he has yet to stand trial.

Thursday's slaying happened less than half a mile from where Steven Michael
Prado, 25, was shot and killed while riding a bicycle in September 2003. No
one has been arrested in that shooting, which happened at Blacow Road near
Central Avenue.

By nightfall, the Glenmoor neighborhood was in a state of shock as residents
struggled to understand why Ansari was gunned down.

"I heard a gunshot, but I was too scared to go outside," said Lydia McCann,
21, who was baby-sitting at a house on Central Avenue at the time of the
shooting.

Concerned neighbors and passers-by congregated along the yellow crime scene
tape, trying to learn the latest details. Meanwhile, police and TV
helicopters hovered over the quiet tree-lined street.

Neighbors expressed concern over the recent crime wave in Fremont, and could
be heard discussing the Sept. 20 stabbing at Kennedy High School — roughly
2.5 miles from Thursday's shooting.

"I was born and raised here in Glenmoor," said Jim Johnston, who was
visiting his mother at his childhood home Thursday.

"And if you ask me, this town has gone to hell in a handbasket."

Another neighborhood resident, who did not want to be identified, held back
tears as she described how terrified she was.

"Until they catch this person, I won't feel safe. I'm praying that this
wasn't random."

Thursday's killing follows three others this year.

On Jan. 6, popular pawnshop owner Ronald Dwain Morris, 54, was slain during
a takeover robbery at his store, Fremont Jewelry & Loan, on Fremont
Boulevard in Irvington.

Caurice Deshone Ulmer and Troy Lee Powell have been arrested and charged
with murder in connection with Morris' death, while two other men have been
identified as suspects but not arrested. However, they were arrested in San
Mateo County on unrelated robbery charges.

A week after Morris' death, 30-year-old Monte Ely Cunningham Martin was
fatally stabbed during a fight outside Mojo's Lounge on Peralta Boulevard in
the Centerville area. Two men were arrested in that case, but prosecutors
refused to file charges against them because they acted in self-defense,
sources said.

And on Aug. 29, 54-year-old Stephen Jay Wilson died in a hit-and-run spree
that began when he was hit in Fremont and ended when 18 others were struck
on the streets of San Francisco.

Wilson was walking on Fremont Boulevard near Decoto Road when he was hit by
an SUV. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Fremont resident Omeed Aziz Popal, 29, has been charged with 40 felonies,
including murder, in connection with that hit-and-run.

Anyone with information about Thursday's shooting may call police at (510)
790-6900.


 
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