Afghan refugee Muhammad Syed was convicted on Monday of first-degree murder in the shooting of 41-year-old Aftab Hussein in 2022 in New Mexico. This case marks one of three murders in Albuquerque’s Muslim community last summer. Syed is also due to stand trial for the other two alleged murders in the upcoming months.
During the trial, prosecutors unveiled cell phone data pinpointing Syed’s presence at the crime scene during the time of the shooting. A ballistics expert corroborated this, testifying that the bullet casings and projectiles from the crime scene matched a rifle found hidden under Syed’s bed.
While defense counsels disputed these claims, alleging a lack of concrete proof that Syed fired the weapon, the defense decided against calling witnesses. Syed declined to testify.
The prosecutions did not propose a motive for Syed’s actions nor talked about Syed’s interactions with Hussein before the murder. Amidst the sequence of three perplexing murders, the investigation initially suspected the perpetrator was a white supremacist who was motivated by religious or racial prejudice. After following the false white supremacist narrative – pushed by the corporate media – investigators eventually came to suspect a member of the area Muslim community.
Syed, alleged to have a history of violence, settled in the U.S. years before the murders occurred. His counsel previously argued against allowing the jury to hear allegations of domestic violence as they did not result in convictions. Syed has also been implicated in the murders of a city planner, Muhammad Afzaal Hussain, and Naeem Hussain, both of whom were shot dead in separate incidents.
