Filed under: News, Interviews, Race and Civil Rights
Elias Abuelazam, suspected in the racially motivated stabbings of 18 people in three states, was extradited to Michigan to face charges in one of the attacks.
Five people were killed in the assaults.
Abuelazam, 33, is being charged with assault and attempt to commit murder in the July 27 stabbing of a 26-year-old Flint man. Authorities in Virginia and Ohio have also filed charges against the Israeli national.
Initially, the case was portrayed by authorities as a race attack. However, police are now saying they aren't certain if race was a motivating factor. It leaves one to wonder whether it was just a coincidence that many of the stabbing victims were black men.
It was good police work and good fortune that led authorities to Abuelazam, who nearly evaded arrest.
Police in Atlanta caught him at an airport gate as he was about to board a plane to Tel Aviv.
The attacks that began in the spring followed a pattern, in which the suspect approached black men in the late evening on secluded roads and asked for help with a stalled vehicle or directions. Then without notice, the attacker pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim.
Little has been disclosed about why Abuelazam, a mental health technician, would allegedly go on such a violent crime spree. If found guilty, authorities should tie this guy down to a psychiatrist's couch for a long while before sending him to prison for the rest of his life.