(WHAS11) Major Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly shouted out “God is great,” in Arabic, right before the shootings.
Those who know him said he is a practicing Muslim. His aunt said that he was harassed about being Muslim, in the months following the 911 attacks.
And now, some local Muslims wonder if there will be even more backlash towards their faith.
There is surveillance video of Hasan at a Texas convenience store, just hours before the mass killings; he is seen wearing traditional Muslim clothing.
It is images like that, associated with suspects of violent crimes, which give some cause for concern.
Abdeljalil Maamry, who runs the Road to Morocco store in downtown Louisville, said “When I heard the shooter’s name, I thought it was one of those terrorist cells or something like that, but that was just my first reaction.”
Even though he is Muslim, he said that when the news was first reported about the Fort Hood shootings, it sounded to him like it may have been a terrorist. But after gathering more information, he learned otherwise.
“It’s easy to jump to conclusions. It’s easy for people to say, ‘Okay, his name is Arabic and he is Muslim, he must have ties to terrorists,” he said. And even though he stopped to get his facts straight, he is concerned that others won’t; because it could further the stereotypes for some people who are already uneasy about Muslims.
He said that he has found that some people don’t even want to talk to you, if you have a Muslim name, and said that people often ask him about his faith. He hopes more people do ask, before forming an opinion based on a few isolated incidents.
The nation’s major Muslim organizations, and several mosques, have condemned the attacks as contrary to Muslim beliefs.
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