GRANTS, N.M. – A string of recent murders in Albuquerque, New Mexico targeted people of Islamic faith and shook the state, prompting additional efforts by the Cibola County Sheriff’s Office to keep all people in the county – regardless of race, ethnicity, or religious background – safe.
Albuquerque Police, working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and assisted by a large force of New Mexico State Police officers, were able to find and arrest the killer. Police arrested Muhammad Syed, 51, Albuquerque, N.M. for the murders. APD described the killings as stemming from a sectarian dispute of religion, Islam has two major groups: Sunni and Shiite. The major difference between the two sects of Islam disagree on the successor to the Prophet Muhammad, who died 1,400 years ago. This history has led to serious conflict across the globe and finally seeped to New Mexico where it claimed the life of four men in Albuquerque. Syed was arrested near Santa Rosa, N.M.
Cibola County is not home to a large Islamic faith group, unlike Albuquerque which is only an hour away from Grants, the largest city in Cibola, by car. The county does not have any mosques and Cibola County Sheriff Tony Mace said that the recent killings will not deter his office’s operations.
Protecting and defending the people of Cibola County is CCSO’s top priority, Sheriff Mace said, adding, “We are blessed to live in a community where hate crime like this is limited.”