The main suspect in a stabbing and ramming attack which injured 11 people at Ohio State University had previously been the subject of a “Humans of Ohio State” feature in student newspaper The Lantern.
In August, Abdul Razak Ali Artan, a Somali refugee, had complained about the lack of prayer facilities at the University.
Artan, who was shot dead by a police officer on Monday after he rammed into a group of students on campus, and attacked them with a butcher’s knife, had also expressed fear about what he described as society’s incorrect perception of Muslims.
“I wanted to pray in the open, but I was scared with everything going on in the media. I’m a Muslim, it’s not what the media portrays me to be,” he said, adding that “I don’t blame [people for fearing Muslims]. It’s the media that put that picture in their heads so they’re just going to have it and it, it’s going to make them feel uncomfortable.”
It seems his perspective changed in the last few months, as he posted a Facebook rant shortly before allegedly carrying out the attack yesterday suggesting he had reached a "boiling point,"
"America! Stop interfering with other countries, especially Muslim Ummah [community]. We are not weak. We are not weak, remember that," he wrote.
August's interview was shared by a satirical anti-religious Arabic language page on Facebook:
The comments in response to the post were highly critical of Muslims, suggesting that such behaviour was representative. Nonetheless, many in America have spoken out to say that the actions of individuals like Artan are not typical of their religious community:
Terrorism has no place in Islam. @OhioState shooter wouldn't have been labeled a terrorist if he was White. I'm tired of this narrative
— • K H A D E G A • (@TheKhadegaMo) November 29, 2016
Radical muslims are to Islam as the KKK are to Christianity, extremists not representative of their religions #OhioState #GunControl
— Christopher Zullo (@ChrisJZullo) November 28, 2016
Police have not yet identified a motive for the attack.
