Vigil held in St. Cloud for slain Virginia teen
About two dozen people gathered on the steps of the Stearns County courthouse in St. Cloud Monday to remember Nabra Hassanen, a 17-year-old Muslim teenager slain in Virginia.
Hassanen was assaulted and killed earlier this month as she walked back to her mosque after a pre-dawn meal with friends.
The vigil was organized by Faisa Omar of St. Cloud, a recent Apollo High School graduate. She said she was moved by Hassanen's story, especially because she is just a year older than Hassanen.
"When I read what happened to her, it was really sad, and it just really touched my heart," Omar said. "It wasn't getting a lot of attention, and my friends were really saddened by it. And we decided to just come together and make a stand for her."
A 22-year-old man is being held on second-degree murder charges in her death. Authorities have described her killing as an act of road rage, not a hate crime.
Still, Omar worries that Muslim women who wear a hijab as Hassanen did could be a target.
"I feel like just because it didn't happen in Minnesota doesn't mean it can't happen in Minnesota," she said. "I just want to bring attention to it. ... When a Muslim girl is killed, we all feel that. We all feel the pain that the family is feeling."
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