Pros And Cons Of Oscar Morel

Brooklyn, NY —Hours after hundreds of mourners attended the funeral service for the Imam and his associate with New York officials making reference to GOP nominee Donald Trump as reason to blame him for his “divisive nature,” the NYPD arrested and charged a man Monday evening with the shooting that killed an Imam and his associated in Queens the past weekend.

The suspect in custody for the slaying of the Imam and associated was identify as
Oscar Morel, a 35 years old Hispanic man from Brooklyn. Morel was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of criminal possession of a weapon.

Over hundreds of Muslims and city officials gathered in a Brooklyn parking lot Monday afternoon for the funeral prayer service. Imam Akonjee,
55, and his associate Thara Uddin, 65, were shot in close blank range shortly after leaving their mosque on Saturday afternoon.

Mayor Bill de Blasio returned earlier from his vacation in Connecticut after public outcry cried that the mayor refused to acknowledge the slaying of the imam, spoke at the service, telling those in attendance “NY is mourning,” even though “voices are spewing hate, trying to create division, trying to turn one American against another," as the emotion of the crowd ran high, shouting for “We want justice!" as he spoke.
"We mourn with you. It was one of those moments of pain, but even in the pain we can recognize that we can all come together,” de Blasio said. "And we know there are voices all over this country who are spewing hate, trying to create division, trying to turn one American against another. We’re not going to listen to those voices that try to divide us, and we’re not going to let them continue to encourage acts of hatred. We will stand up to them each and every time."

In a statement issued 24 hours after the killing, the Mayor stated the motive was unknown, but the Muslim community “are in the perpetual crosshairs of
bigotry.”

"When religious leaders are targeted, we all bear the pain those in Ozone Park feel most personally today. While we do not yet know the motivation for the murders of Maulama Akonjee and Thara Uddin, we do know that our Muslim communities are in the perpetual crosshairs of bigotry. It remains critical that we work to bridge the divides that threaten to undermine the greatness of our city and country,” the statement reads.

De Blasio ensured the Muslim community justice will be brought and the additional security presence from members of the NYPD will be provided to protect Muslims throughout New York City.
“Since this horrific tragedy, the NYPD has been expending every resources… to find this killer and find the cause and you will see in the Muslim communities of our city the NYPD there in support of the community,” de Blasio said. “You will see today and in days thereafter."

He also added the attack was in reference to GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump rhetoric and proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States.

“It is also clear that there is a lot of fear in the community. Members of the Muslim community on edge because of the atmosphere that is existing in this country, particularly over the last few months on national debate,” de Blasio said in a press conference held at NYPD HQ.

Public Advocate Letitia James described the Imam as a “peacemaker and a man of faith,” adding that New Yorkers will send a message that “love trumps hate each and every
time."

“I am here today as the New York City public advocate who will never ever abandon the Muslim community,” James said. “Today we pray and mourn, but tomorrow we will again join together to demand justice and to send the message throughout this country that love trumps hate each and every time.”

Before the funeral service commenced, a suspect was brought into custody, detained originally for a hit-and-run incident that occurred moments after the fatal shooting.

“Detectives were able to develop a strong lead into a suspect very early on based on an unrelated incident that occurred in Brooklyn approximately 10 minutes after the shooting in Queens, 3 miles away,” Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said during a press conference held in NYPD HQ.

The police were working tirelessly on this case were able to connect the hit-and-run accident to the shooting based on a video canvass of a GMC Trailblazer that fled the scene after the homicide. The cyclist provided Detectives the suspect license plate in which they were able to track the vehicle and waited for the person to return around 10pm for the vehicle. The suspect in an attempt to get away, “rammed the detectives’ car several times” until he was placed under arrest.

"We believe this is a strong person of interest right now,” Chief of Detective Robert Boyce said, briefing reporters of the case. “We’re back looking at him for both crimes – the homicide and that. He is described as a male, Hispanic, 36 years old. He’s from East New York, Brooklyn. We obtained a search warrant and we’re now about to do a search warrant on his home. We’re obviously looking for the gun – the weapon that committed the homicide – as well as clothing that he wore at that point."

After the press conference with reporters, police served a search warrant at Morel’s residence in East New York, Brooklyn and were able to recover a .38 revolver handgun along with the exact clothing of dark polo shirt and shorts that matched the description provided by witnesses and video surveillance. By 10:30 pm ET Monday night, Morel was handcuffed and taken to central booking in Queens for arraignment.

Morel was arraigned on Tuesday afternoon on charges with one count of first-degree murder, two count of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of weapon.

Queens Assistant District Attorney called this crime “the most horrendous and despicable acts.” It is still unclear, according to the DA’s office to confirm the motives as a hate crime, but the Queens DA Richard Brown vowed to “vigorously prosecute” as well as to “seek the most serious penalties” the law allows.

Morel is held without bail and will return to court on Thursday.