This horrible murder took place in an area outside San Diego that’s heavily infested with white supremacists and neo-Nazis. Nearby Santee is nicknamed “Klantee” because of its racism – and the actual Klan members. Lakeside has a real reputation for racial violence and assaults by skinheads; in fact, vicious white gangs are a known problem throughout the East County area.
So is there a connection? Not yet, but the odds are high in its favor:
EL CAJON — An Iraqi immigrant and mother of five died Saturday of injuries from a severe beating in her El Cajon home, where a note warning the family to “go back to your own country” was left next to her.
El Cajon police said they are investigating the possibility of a hate crime.
The attack on Shaima Alawadi, 32, has shocked and grieved Muslims and others in San Diego and beyond.
“People who have heard of it are numb,” said Hanif Mohebi, executive director of the San Diego chapter of the Council on Islamic-American Relations. “I have had communications from the San Francisco Bay Area asking, ‘how can I help this family,’ and even around the country people are praying for the family.
“Given the fact of these notes left, we’re obviously concerned about the possibility of a hate crime. I don’t think anyone would disagree this is a coldblooded murder.”
Police said the 17-year-old daughter of Alawadi and Kassim Al Himidi found her mother unconscious in the dining room of the family’s Skyview Street home about 11:15 a.m. Wednesday. Alawadi was hospitalized, then taken off life support about 3 p.m. Saturday. She died a short time later, police said.
The daughter told KUSI Channel 9/51 her mother had been beaten on the head repeatedly with a tire iron. Mohebi said the daughter had been sleeping upstairs. When she went downstairs, “it was too late and the (attacker) was gone. The sliding glass door was broken.”
Police did not disclose contents of the note found next to Alawadi. A family friend said the note read, “go back to your own country. You’re a terrorist.”
El Cajon police Lt. Mark Coit said the family told investigators they found a similar note outside the house earlier this month, but did not report it to authorities. Alawadi had dismissed that note as a child’s prank, her daughter told KUSI.
