White supremacist converts to Islam, kills neo-nazi roommates for disrespecting new faith
A white supremacist has been charged for fatally shooting his two roommates after they objected to his decision to convert to Islam.
The Tampa Police Department in Florida said Devon Arthurs, 18, confessed in detail on tape to killing his neo-Nazi roommates, Jeremy Himmelman, 22, and Andrew Oneschuk, 18.
According to police, Arthurs was upset at Islamophobia and decided to murder his two roommates "to bring attention to his cause".
Prior to converting to Islam, Arthurs was a committed white supremacist, as were his two roommates.
The killings only came to light after Arthurs went to a nearby smoke shop in Tampa Palms armed with a semi-automatic pistol, where he took three hostages and threatened to kill them.
Police on the scene managed to convince him to let the hostages go and turn himself in.
It's understood Arthurs told the hostages he was "upset due to America bombing his Muslim countries".
“I had to do it,” he said, according to police.
“This wouldn’t have had to happen if your country didn’t bomb my country.”
Police say that Arthurs also told them that he not only wanted to draw attention to American foreign policy in the Muslim world, but also to “take some of the neo-Nazis with him” as part of his murderous rampage.
Police took Arthurs to Tampa Palms Apartments where they found the bodies of Himmelman and Oneschuk.
Both had been shot in the head and upper body, police said.
Arthurs faces charges of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault and three counts of armed kidnapping, The Tampa Bay Times reports.
Newsbreak – May 24
