FBI joins Iraqi woman death case in California, calls it 'possible hate crime,' well late than never for the FBI to show up and question if case is a hate crime

FBI joins case of Iraqi woman's slaying; hate crime possible
LA Times blog
March 26, 2012 | 1:36 pm

At a news conference on Monday, police said the FBI was assisting in the case but provided few details about the investigation. There is no "person of interest" in the case at this time, police said.

Near the body of the 32-year-old Alawadi, police found what has been described as a threatening note. Police have declined to release the text, but relatives and friends say the handwritten note warned Alawadi to "go back to your own country" and labeled her a terrorist.

The family told police they had received a similarly threatening note several days earlier but considered it a prank by teenagers.

Alawadi was found unconscious Wednesday morning in the dining room of the family's home by her 17-year-old daughter. She was taken to a hospital, where she was diagnosed as brain-dead. Her family decided on Saturday to discontinue life support.

• Read: Killer of Iraqi-born mother, 32, beaten to death in her own home left note saying 'Go back to your own country. You're a terrorist'

Police said that whatever the motive, the attack appears to be "an isolated event," not part of an overall pattern of violence toward immigrants.

"We're investigating all aspects of this crime," Lt. Mark Coit said Sunday. "The minute you rule out a possible motive, you start to get tunnel vision. As of now, we have not ruled out any of the motives for why people kill people."

Coit said police are unsure about what kind of weapon was used but that Alawadi was beaten with a large object.

Alawadi and her husband had moved to El Cajon from a Detroit suburb several weeks ago. The two areas are considered the most popular destinations for Iraqi immigrants to the United States.

Brutal hate crime in California, gets drowned in the media news by black teen shooting in Florida

Mother, 32, dies after brutal racist attack in her own home by killer who left note saying 'go back to your country'
DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 01:04 EST, 25 March 2012 | UPDATED: 01:05 EST, 25 March 2012

  
Attack: Shaima Alawadi, (left), was found close to death by her 17-year-old daughter Fatima Al Himidi, (right)

A 32-year-old woman from Iraq who was found severely beaten next to a threatening note saying 'go back to your country' died yesterday.

Shaima Alawadi was taken off life support three days after being attacked with a tire iron, according to Hanif Mohebi, director of the San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

'The family is in shock at the moment. They're still trying to deal with what happened,' Mr Mohebi said.

Ms Alawadi, a mother of five, had been hospitalised since her 17-year-old daughter found her unconscious on Wednesday in the family's house in El Cajon, California. The daughter, Fatima Al Himidi, told KUSI-TV her mother had been beaten on the head repeatedly with a tire iron, and that the note said 'go back to your country, you terrorist.'

Addressing the camera, the tearful daughter asked: 'You took my mother away from me. You took my best friend away from me. Why? Why did you do it?'

She also said: 'We're not the terrorists, you are - whoever did it.' Police said the family had found a similar note earlier this month but did not report it to authorities.

Miss Al Himidi told KGTV-TV her mother dismissed the first note, found outside the home, as a child's prank. A family friend, Sura Alzaidy, told UT San Diego that the attack apparently occurred after the father took the younger children to school. Ms Alzaidy told the newspaper the family is from Iraq, and that Alawadi is a 'respectful modest muhajiba,' meaning she wears the traditional hijab, a head scarf.

Investigators said they believe the assault is an isolated incident.

'A hate crime is one of the possibilities, and we will be looking at that,' Lt. Mark Coit said. 'We don't want to focus on only one issue and miss something else.'

The family had lived in the house in San Diego County for only a few weeks, after moving from Michigan. Ms Alzaidy told the newspaper her father and Ms Alawadi's husband had previously worked together in San Diego as private contractors for the U.S. Army, serving as cultural advisers to train soldiers who were going to be deployed to the Middle East.

Mr Mohebi said the family had been in the United States since the mid-1990s. He said it was unfortunate that the family didn't report the initial threatening note.

'Our community does face a lot of discriminatory, hate incidents and don't always report them,' Mr Mohebi said. 'They should take these threats seriously and definitely call local law enforcement.'

El Cajon, northeast of downtown San Diego, is home to some 40,000 Iraqi immigrants, the second largest such community in the U.S. after Detroit. 


Watch the video