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Drooling on the Pillow

Monday, February 07, 2005

The Armanious Murders 

Readers know how I value and rely on the New York Sun as the areas only conservative broadsheet. It's disappointing that virtually all it's content is locked behind an online subscriber barrier. But they're new, they're almost certainly struggling and the dead tree version is only two bits so we give them a break.

Today there's an interesting op-ed piece by Maria Sliwa on the Armanious murders. For those not in the area that's the case where a family of Coptic Christians was brutally murdered in circumstances that suggested, at least, the involvement of local Islamists. This happened in my neighborhood.

The police have downplayed the Muslim connection. Jersey City has the largest community of Copts in the U.S. A well-educated, hard-working asset to the city. It also has one of the largest Muslim communities in the country, most of whom, obviously, are good citizens. The tension between these two groups has bubbled under the surface for years and the Armanious murders has given it a focal point. The FBI's involved, the local police are closed lipped and the coverage has swayed back and forth as unofficial leaks drip out. At one point it seemed clear to me that the police were sure that this was just a particularly vicious robbery-homicide. My reading of the tea leaves is that they are trying to prepare the public for the news that this was something else. The autopsies won't be released until March 14th. Until then I honestly don't have an opinion. I hope for a resolution and I pray that the authorities are convincing when they do draw a conclusion, whatever it is.

I do know this. There is absolutely no doubt within the Coptic community that the killings were a message to them from their tormentors from the old country.
Posted by: Sluggo / 1:00 PM
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