New York man in court charged with murdering Muslim cleric, assistant

[Nuclear Unicorn]

New York man in court charged with murdering Muslim cleric, assistant

A New York City man appeared in court on Tuesday and denied charges he shot and killed a Muslim cleric and his assistant on a street in the borough of Queens over the weekend.

Oscar Morel, 35, faces up to life in prison without parole if he is convicted of killing Imam Maulama Akonjee, 55, and Thara Uddin, 64, in a brazen daylight attack on Saturday that horrified the neighborhood's Bangladeshi community.

Morel, who was shackled at the hands and feet and wore a tan button-down shirt with black pants, was arraigned at Queens Criminal Court on one count of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-new-york-shooting-idUSKCN10O0X4

[closeupready]

1. Life behind bars, and ...

I just hope one day when he reflects back on his life from the inside of a cage, it occurs to him that murdering two complete strangers was not worth throwing a bit less than 2/3 of his remaining life away, in addition to potentially casting his family in a bad light.

No more sunsets at the beach, no more hitting McDonald's at 12 midnight just because you've got a hankering for a Big Mac, no more films with your kids at the cinema, no more Christmas with the family.

[NaturalHigh]

2. The article says his motivation remains unknown.

I'll be interested to see if he's just a bigot or if he has some particular axe to grind.

[Igel]

3. Turf struggle, perhaps.

Perhaps a Latino neighborhood that's going Bangladeshi or S. Asian?

That would make it a "hate crime" but not exactly of the Trumpian variety or even Trump inspired.