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Chattanooga Muslims anxious after shootings

Women who came with others from the Islamic Society of Greater Chattanooga to offer their support put their hands around one another during an interfaith vigil at Olivet Baptist Church held in remembrance of victims of the July, 16 shootings on Friday, July 17, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The vigil was held one day after gunman Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez shot and killed four U.S. Marines and wounded two others and a Chattanooga police officer at the Naval Operational Support Center on Amnicola Highway shortly after firing into the Armed Forces Career Center on Lee Highway.
Women who came with others from the Islamic Society of Greater Chattanooga to offer their support put their hands around one another during an interfaith vigil at Olivet Baptist Church held in remembrance of victims of the July, 16 shootings on Friday, July 17, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The vigil was held one day after gunman Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez shot and killed four U.S. Marines and wounded two others and a Chattanooga police officer at the Naval Operational Support Center on Amnicola Highway shortly after firing into the Armed Forces Career Center on Lee Highway.

By Associated Press 18 min read

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) – Mohsin Ali, a member of the Islamic Society of Greater Chattanooga, has Christian friends and sometimes speaks at area churches about his Islamic faith. His experience isn’t that odd in a city that prides itself on strong ties between people of different faiths.

Ali, 42, can now only hope those delicate relationships aren’t torn by the fact that a fellow Muslim, a young man who attended his mosque, shot and killed four Marines and a sailor.

Ali, a child psychiatrist, grieves with others over the deaths of service members he calls heroes. But he’s also hearing from Muslim families who fear the community’s perception of them has changed.