NYC man convicted for murder of Bangladeshi-American Imam, associate

A 37-year-old city resident has been convicted of killing a Bangladeshi-American Muslim cleric and his associate in New York in 2016, a crime that was seen as symptomatic of rising Islamophobic and xenophobic rhetoric in the US.

"Oscar Morel of Brooklyn was convicted at trial of first-degree murder and other charges for the broad daylight execution of Imam Maulana Akonjee, 55, and his associate and friend Thara Uddin, 64. The two men were gunned down as they walked home following prayers at the Al-furqan Jame Masjid Mosque in Queens in August 2016," Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement.

Describing the killings as a "senseless act of gun violence" carried out in the middle of the afternoon in a close-knit neighborhood filled with families, Brown said, "Morel's actions caused immeasurable grief not only to the victims' families, but the slaying struck at the heart of the Muslim community of Queens."
"Maulana and Thara came to this country in search of a better life, instead they found Morel's hatred. Nothing can ever replace what Morel took from us, but this verdict helps show that this city will never accept this sort of heartbreaking violence."