Little Rock shooting suspect pleads not guilty

Should this turn of events surprise us? Abdulhakim Muhammad, the suspect who has been detained in the shooting death of an Army recruiter and wounding of another in Little Rock, AR has pleaded not guilty, even though he was basically caught red handed and has actually admitted to the shooting. He reasons the shooting death of Pvt. William Andrew Long, 23, of Conway, AR is not murder because it was justified. Pvt. Quinton I. Ezeagwula, 18, of Jacksonville was wounded in the attack.

In what I would consider a rant against the United States military, Muhammad said he admitted the shootings to the police when he was arrested and said they were in retaliation for crimes committed by U.S forces and said more attacks were sure to follow. From The Associated Press:

Muhammad, 23, said he wanted revenge for claims that American military personnel had desecrated copies of the Quran and killed or raped Muslims. “For this reason, no Muslim, male or female, sane or insane, little, big, small, old can accept or tolerate,” he said.

He said the U.S. military would never treat Christians and their Scriptures in the same manner.

“U.S. soldiers are killing innocent Muslim men and women. We believe that we have to strike back. We believe in eye for an eye. We don’t believe in turning the other cheek,” he said.

Asked whether he considered the shootings at the recruiting center an act of war, Muhammad said “I didn’t know the soldiers personally, but yes, it was an attack of retaliation. And I feel that other attacks, not by me or people I know, but definitely Muslims in this country and others elsewhere, are going to attack for doing those things they did,” especially desecrating the Quran.

I mean no disrespect to Islam or it’s followers with my next statement, but when are we going to learn that a lot of Muslims feel the same way about our country as  Muhammad? Some have said this faction of Islam is only a small minority of those who follow it, but they are a very vocal minority and they have no intentions of protesting peacefully inside the U.S. or anywhere else. Violence seems to be their calling card and the only way they can express their outrage over what they perceive are crimes against their religion and their people.

What strikes me as even more odd is the difference we see in how Islam and the Quran are treated, versus how Christianity and the Bible are treated, even in our own country. If someone decides to burn or otherwise desecrate the Quran or Islam, it is considered hate speech and an outrage. Let a politician say anything against Islam and see how far they can get with that. By the same token, if those same acts are committed against Christianity or the Bible, it is considered a constitutional right of free speech.

Don’t get me wrong, I do not believe in desecrating the Quran or anything to do with Islam, but shouldn’t the same respect be extended to those of us who are Christians and believe in the Bible, as well as any other religion? It just seems like the right thing to do.