There is no excuse for any sort of hate crime no matter who commits it. What happened at the Jewish Community Center in Seattle was a tragedy. However, I think it should be noted for the AM radio talk show hosts (ie. Glen Beck) and other purported experts on “Islam” who had a fanfare with this that the shooter was in fact, NOT a Muslim.
Shooting suspect was baptized Christian
Just part of the enigma he proved himself to friends
By SCOTT GUTIERREZ
Seattle Public Inquirer
RICHLAND — Those who knew Naveed Haq said Saturday that to them he was an enigma, a puzzle that they wish they could have solved before his deadly rampage in a Seattle Jewish center.
Stunned and saddened by the news, some of Haq’s acquaintances recounted many of what they saw as the contradictions of his life. He held a degree in electrical engineering and was the son of a successful engineer, yet he couldn’t keep a regular job. He was smart, creative and skilled as a writer.
He recently won an essay contest for a U.S. Institute of Peace scholarship. Yet Haq was frustrated at his lack of friends and female companionship. He told friends he felt alienated from his own family, in part because his career had disappointed his father and also because he had disavowed Islam last year, converting to Christianity.
Haq had begun studying the Bible, attending weekly men’s spiritual group meetings, only to stop coming a few months after his baptism. He had told the group’s leader that he seen too much anger in Islam and that he wanted to find a new beginning in Christianity. Yet in the midst of his shooting spree in Seattle Friday, he declared himself an angry Muslim. Acquaintances said he never seemed the fanatic religious extremist he played out on Friday. Instead some think his anger was really directed at problems in his personal and professional life.
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