A New York man has been charged in connection with the deaths of a imam and his assistant at the weekend.
35-year-old Oscar Morel of Brooklyn has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder following the deaths of 55-year-old Imam Maulama Akonjee and 64-year-old Thara Uddin.
He has also been charged with two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
He was questioned by officers after he was arrested on charges relating to a hit-and-run traffic accident on Saturday.
Akonjee and Uddin were shot in the head at close range after Saturday prayers at the Al-Furqan Jame Mosque in the Ozone Park area of the New York suburb of Queens.
The killings have shocked the neighbourhood’s Bangladeshi community.
Residents of Ozone Park were shaken by the attack, which happened in broad daylight.
Speakers at the mens’ funerals implored the authorities to investigate the murders as hate crimes.
They called for efforts to protect mosques and Muslim neighborhoods to be stepped up.
