3 killed in California ‘race attack’; suspect held
los angeles — A man arrested for a shooting spree in the central California city of Fresno on Tuesday in which three white men were killed saw himself as part of an ongoing race war, according to family and police.
The suspect, a 39-year-old African-American named Kori Ali Muhammad, shouted “Allahu Akbar” — “God is great” in Arabic — as he was being taken into custody.
But Fresno police chief Jerry Dyer said indications were it was not a “terrorist-related crime” and a probe was under way to determine if the murders qualified as a hate crime.
He said Muhammad, who used the alias “Black Jesus” and was wanted in the killing last week of an unarmed security guard outside a motel in the city, had indicated in postings on his Facebook page that he hated white people and the government.
“This was a random act of violence,” Dyer said. “These were unprovoked attacks by an individual who was intent on carrying out homicides today.” He said all the victims were white males and there was every reason to believe Muhammad had acted alone.
Muhammad’s father, Vincent Taylor, told The Los Angeles Times that his son was convinced he was part of an ongoing war between whites and blacks, and that “a battle was about to take place.”
A Facebook page for a Kori Ali Muhammad in Fresno featured images extolling black nationalism and making repeated references to “white devils,” the newspaper said.
When Muhammad was a teen he legally changed his name from Kori Taylor, his grandmother, Glenestene Taylor, told the daily. Muhammad faces four counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder, authorities said. —