Family of Kori Muhammad: "I don’t think anyone can call it a hate crime"

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The family of suspected Fresno shooter Kori Muhammad, who allegedly gunned down four white men in an apparent race hate killing spree, said his dislike of white people had been simmering for years following a series of ‘bad experiences’. Muhammad’s cousin, Sharisse Kemp – who has been appointed family spokesperson - said he was called the N-word from a young age and felt, as a black man, he was discriminated against his entire life. But she said the family is ‘shocked’ by what happened and is still ‘hurting’ over the tragedy. ‘This happened yesterday so our family is still trying to process this,’ she explained ‘We want to pass our condolences to the families of the victims of this terrible tragedy, we’re still trying to make sense of it.’

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Muhammad told officers he did not like white men saying they were responsible for 'keeping black people down'. A series of racist and inflammatory social media posts and several rap songs branding white people ‘devils’ serves to reinforce Muhammad's hatred of white people. But despite this, his family claims there was ‘nothing to indicate he would act out’ with violence.

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She says the only explanation the family can offer as to why Muhammad – previously named Cory Taylor - carried out the shooting spree is a history of run-ins with white people. ‘He had a number of experiences that weren’t very pleasurable with whites, some very recently,’ she said. ‘Everyone can agree that there is a lot of racial tension (in America). In this situation, I don’t think anyone can call it a hate crime, Kori would be the only one who can give that information. ‘As a black woman I have had some very hurtful experiences, however, we all deal with them in different ways. ‘His experiences go as far back as him being targeted because he’s a tall, black male, being followed into a store because people think he’s going to steal something, being called the N-word.’

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