Kansas City Truck Driver Faces Murder Charges After Hitting Muslim Teen
A 34-year-old Kansas City truck driver faces a first-degree murder charge and a federal hate crime investigation after authorities say he deliberately struck a teenager leaving a mosque with his SUV.
After his arrest, Ahmed H. Aden told police that he had been looking to kill several men who threatened him earlier, mistaking 15-year-old Abdisamad Sheikh-Hussein for one of those men, the Kansas City Star reported.
The high school sophomore, who had just led evening prayers at his mosque on Thursday, was struck outside the Somali Center by a speeding Chevrolet Blazer, nearly severing his legs. He died a short time later at a hospital.
Mohamed Ahmed, 13, told the newspaper that the teenager “was leading our prayer, and then after that, he just went outside. He was going to the gym to meet his friends and play basketball. And then, he got hit.”
Prosecutors have charged Aden with armed criminal action, leaving the scene of an accident and unlawful use of a weapon. He is also the focus of a federal hate crimes probe, the newspaper reported.
Abdinajib Dirir, the victim’s uncle, said the family had emigrated from war-torn Somalia and was devastated by the loss.
“There are no words to describe,” he told Kansas City newspapers. “This is a community that fled a violent situation. Now we’re facing violence in the United States. … We are American like everyone else. And this is a tragedy for us.”
Members of the Somali community told the newspaper that the suspect had a history of making violent threats against Muslims and the mosque, occasionally even threatening the mass slaughter of worshipers. He had been interviewed by police, but apparently a case against him couldn’t be developed.
Moussa Elbayoumy, chairman of the Kansas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said a member of the mosque has a photo of Aden’s SUV with anti-Muslim graffiti reading, “Quran is a virus disease (worse) than Ebola.”
