A California family from Iraq say the tire iron beating of a young mother was a hate crime. The family says a note was found next to Shaima Al Awadi after her beating in El Cajon.
WJAM reported:
Nothing was stolen from the home. Shaima was found in the dining room after the attack.
The New York Daily News reported:
An Iraqi woman found beaten with a tire iron in her home and targeted with racist threats died Saturday.
Shaima Al Awadi was taken off life support three days after she was discovered unconscious in her living room in El Cajon by her 17-year-old daughter, according to KUSI 9 News.
The 32-year-old was struck several times in the head, Fatima Al Himidi said, and there was a “letter next to her head saying, ‘Go back to your country, you terrorist.'”
“A week ago they left a letter saying this is our country not yours you terrorist, and so my mom ignored that thinking it was just kids playing a prank,” the teenager told KGTV 10 News. “But the day they hit her, they left another note again, and it said the same thing.”
Police would not reveal what was in the letter, but confirmed one was found with the body.
“During the initial stages of this investigation, a threatening note was discovered very close to where the victim was found,” Lt. Mark Coit of the El Cajon police said in a statement.
Alawadi, a mother of five, came to the United States in the mid-1990s, CNN reported. El Cajon is home to one of the nation’s largest Iraqi communities.
No suspects have been identified, and police are not saying whether or not the case will be treated as a hate crime.
“Evidence thus far leads us to believe this is an isolated incident,” Coit said.
Hmm… So does anyone else have doubts about this potential hate crime?
UPDATE: Mara added this:
In the video link on your site… the daughter says the note left on their door a week ago said: “This is our country, not yours, you terrorist” and the note on the day the mother died said the same thing….
On this news report found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EzC-riif2M <--- the daughter says the note found with the mother said: “Go back to your country, you terrorist”
And the blaze article quotes the note as “Go back to your own country. You’re a terrorist.”
Now… I realize the difference in wording in the three references might seem miniscule — but if the story were true… and if I were a teenager who found my mother murdered in that manner… I would have read that note over and over for clues… to the point that I would be consistent in remembering every word EXACTLY as written. I probably would have had the note in front of me while reading it to the police after dialing 9-1-1… would have read it over and over in discussing it with family… would have read it when talking to investigators… and would have had the message down to every syllable etched permanently into my brain cells… wouldn’t you? Her story isn’t consistent… and neither is the words she chooses. What daughter would tell a reporter… “She’s just a housewife.” That’s not the language of a teenager… but is the language of CAIR putting words into their mouths of what to say to the reporters.
It will be interesting to see what authorities find in this investigation.