Mustafa Ayoubi’s Family Tries To Convince Feds To Charge His Murderer With Hate Crime

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Several Hoosiers traveled to Washington last night to hold a vigil for Mustafa Ayoubi, the man shot and killed in a road rage incident on the west side of Indianapolis last week. 

Ayoubi’s sister Zahra Ayoubi and Indiana Congressman Andre Carson spoke at the vigil on the steps of the United States Supreme Court where they again call for action from federal law enforcement to charge Daniel Passarelli with a hate crime. 

“These types of crimes cannot go unpunished,” Carson told the gathering. “These kinds of crimes, crimes of hate, crimes of bigotry, must be met with resistance. Must be met with boldness. Must be met with fearlessness.”

They said they had to go to Washington since there is no state-level hate crimes law in Indiana. 

Right now, Passarelli can only be charged with murder. Investigators say it was road rage, but Zahra Ayoubi said what he did to her brother was much more than that.

“I don’t want Mustafa’s murder to be swept under the rug as ‘road rage’,” she said. “We all get road rage. I don’t see anyone of us following someone twice around a McDonald’s and then to their friend’s house and then shoot them seven times after shouting racial slurs.”

They are hoping to convince federal law enforcement to charge Passarelli with a hate crime, since prosecutors in Indiana can’t. The FBI said they are monitoring the investigation.

Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb again called on state lawmakers to pass a true hate crimes bill yesterday. The State Senate pass hate crimes legislation earlier this month, but it did not include a list of protected classes of minorities, essentially gutting the bill.

(PHOTO: Screenshot from CAIR video)