DURHAM, N.C. (RNS) — Nine years ago this month, three Muslim students of Middle Eastern descent were having dinner in a condo development in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, when a neighbor banged on the door, barged in and shot and killed them, execution style.The news of their murder and the subsequent conviction of their killer, an unemployed middle-aged white man with a small arsenal of firearms, shocked the world and shattered Chapel Hill’s idyllic image.
No one in the university town centered around the sprawling campus of the University of North Carolina, could remember another triple murder, much less one involving a religious minority.
A new documentary now screening in North Carolina’s Triangle region and across the country in various film festivals and university campuses, tells the story of two wrongs: the horrific murders of three promising young people just starting their adult lives and the federal government’s unwillingness to prosecute the case as a religion-motivated hate crime.
“36 Seconds: Portrait of a Hate Crime” examines the heart-wrenching overnight pivot of the bereaved families as they move from shock over their loved ones’ murders to advocacy for a hate crime conviction that never materialized.
RELATED: Parking spat as motive for triple murder? N.C. Muslims don’t buy it
A scene from “36 Seconds: Portrait of a Hate Crime.” (Image courtesy Full Disclosure Films)
Hicks, an atheist, did not express any Muslim animus specifically, though he had severa …
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No one in the university town centered around the sprawling campus of the University of North Carolina, could remember another triple murder, much less one involving a religious minority.
A new documentary now screening in North Carolina’s Triangle region and across the country in various film festivals and university campuses, tells the story of two wrongs: the horrific murders of three promising young people just starting their adult lives and the federal government’s unwillingness to prosecute the case as a religion-motivated hate crime.
“36 Seconds: Portrait of a Hate Crime” examines the heart-wrenching overnight pivot of the bereaved families as they move from shock over their loved ones’ murders to advocacy for a hate crime conviction that never materialized.
RELATED: Parking spat as motive for triple murder? N.C. Muslims don’t buy it
A scene from “36 Seconds: Portrait of a Hate Crime.” (Image courtesy Full Disclosure Films)
Hicks, an atheist, did not express any Muslim animus specifically, though he had severa …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]