Muslim-American men's murders barely cause a ripple

Police in the US state of Indiana say they are yet to identify a motive for the "execution-style" murders of three young Muslim-American men last week, in a case that has barely caused a ripple in mainstream media in the United States

The three men - 23-year-old Mohamedtaha Omar, 20-year-old Adam Mekki and 17-year-old Muhannad Tairab - were found dead in a house in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on Wednesday, police told local media.

The men, who police said hailed from Africa's eastern Sahel region, had all been shot multiple times. Police said the murders were not believed to be gang-related.

The killings came in the same week that other mass shootings in the US gained widespread coverage, nationally and internationally.

Last Saturday night, a man identified as Jason Dalton drove around the Michigan city of Kalamazoo and randomly shot people, leaving at least six dead.

Then on Thursday, three people were killed and at least 14 others wounded by a gunman in a series of shootings in the state of Kansas.

After major online news site Vox published a piece on the Fort Wayne shootings on Saturday, many took to social media to question why there had not been more coverage.

1. Police told local media that they did not believe the murders were linked to the men's ethnicity or religion.

   1. We’re pretty certain they weren’t targeted due to that," said Fort Wayne Public Safety Director Rusty York, according to the local Journal Gazette.
   2. "Hopefully, you know, we'll be able to focus in on exactly what the reason was, but as I said before, no reason to believe this was any type of hate crime, or focused because of their religion or their nationality whatsoever," he said, according to 21 Alive news.

      1. Al Jazeera attempted to contact the Fort Wayne Police Department on Saturday night. An operator said to call back during office hours on Monday.

         1. While police have not yet identified a motive, some drew parallels to a reported rise in anti-Muslim sentiment across the US.
         2. Muslim groups have reported a rise in Islamophobic attacks in the US, especially since Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump called for a ban on all Muslims entering the country.
         3. The murders came just over a year after three Muslim-American students were shot dead at a residential complex of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.