Spokeswoman: Media Only Cares About Killings ‘When Muslims Are the Perpetrators’

REID: "Executive director of the Arab-American Association of New York and the spokeswoman for the Chapel Hill victims' families joins us. Thank you so much for being here." 
SARSOUR: "Thank you for having me." 
REID: "The doubts that I am seeing on social media and that you're hearing reflected in pieces written about this case, are also echoed by Congress's first muslim-american member who said, I'm confident based on my review of the facts that the parking answer certainly is not the whole story. Does the family believe that the parking -- the explanation of this as a parking dispute is sort of too convenient, or why is it they don't believe it?" 
SARSOUR: "It's absolutely offensive to say that three young people under the age of 23 were murdered execution style over a parking spot. This is an absolute hate-motivated crime. We know this from Mr. Hicks' Facebook posts. He's an extremist atheist. The daughter said this is a very hateful neighbor. I believe he hates us for who we are and how we dress. He used to touch his gun in his holster when he saw them. You need to have hate in your heart to execute three young people in the way that Mr. Hicks did." 
REID: "And indeed, you know, we're now seeing some of the Facebook posts by Craig hicks. He said, people say nothing can solve the Middle East problem, not mediation, not arms, not financial aid. I said there's something atheism. Had the family, had these young people come into contact with Mr. Hicks, and were they afraid of him, to your knowledge?" 
SARSOUR: "Absolutely. He was their neighbor. He lived in the same apartment complex. As I said, Mr. Hicks would carry a gun in a visible holster. He would touch his gun when he saw the young people. Again, the daughter, the wife, would tell her father, I'm really afraid of him. I think he hates us and he hates us for who we're. This was a cry for help. When they complained to the apartment complex manager, he said if he bothers you in any way, please call the police next time. Unfortunately, that next time they were shot dead." 
REID: "And Linda, I want to talk a little bit about the coverage. There has been some criticism that there has been kind of a rush to judgment that this was a parking dispute and sort of pushing away the possibility that this was, in fact, a hate crime or that hate played a part in it. Do you feel that narrative is more the fault of authorities who are trying to sort of contain what could become, I guess, an interethnic dispute, or do you think it's simply a media narrative that the family objects to?" 
SARSOUR: "To be honest, Joy, even if it wasn't a hate crime, you had three young -- a dental student, medical student. These are UNC students, young people. It doesn't matter who they were. They were shot dead execution style. The media was not aware of this at all. The only link we had was to a local Chapel Hill news station. It sent a message across the country that it doesn't matter when Muslims are the victims. It only matters when Muslims are the perpetrators. The media gives a lot of platform to talk about these international issues and ISIS and have these abstract discussions, but right now we're talking about the loss of life and the loss of life is important regardless of who they are. Again, young people on social media talking about I'm fearing for my life, I'm afraid to walk in my college campus, it has sent a chilling effect across the Arab communities across this country."