Students at Diablo Valley College held a vigil on Tuesday, Feb. 17 for the murder of three Muslim students in North Carolina.

The vigil consisted of students from all walks of life and as it continued, other students joined in.

The murders gained national notoriety due to the poor coverage by the mainstream media who were reluctant to call the killings a hate crime.

Deah Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Abu-salha, 21, and her younger sister Razan Abu-Salha, 19, were all murdered in their home on Feb. 10. Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, was the neighbor of the students and was arrested and indicted on three counts of murder and one count of discharging a weapon into an occupied dwelling.

The vigil started in the Library Quad with a moment of silence as students bowed their heads holding signs that read “Come honor the lives and deaths of Barakat, Yusor and Razan Abu-Salha.”

Omar Fazli is the president of the Muslim Student Association at DVC.

“We wanted to spread the message in honor of the three victims and what they dedicated their lives towards: helping others, being selfless individuals and spreading peace and love,” Fazli said.

After the moment of silence, the students each gave their thoughts about what had happened in North Carolina.”If we don’t acknowledge this is happening, it will just continue,” said Mouzim Mousumi, a 20-year-old mechanical engineering major.

Not all the students around the vigil agreed with what was taking place. While mourners shared thoughts on peace in the Middle East and how to derail Islamophobia in the United States, some students on the side line made derogatory comments about the girls wearing hijabs.

Amna Tariq a 20-year-old psychology major spoke about her fears of being a Muslim in the United States.

“I’m scared,” Tariq said. “I’m scared every morning I put my scarf on, it could be me, another woman or another Muslim. Thank you for all of your support here today.”

After everyone in the circle had spoken, Omar Fazli led a prayer as all the students bowed their heads and raised their hands. After the prayer, Omar raised his head and addressed the group quoting Ali, cousin of the prophet Muhammad,

“‘Be like the flower whom the hand crushes that it still gives off fragrance,'” he said.  “‘The hand that crushes is hate and the fragrance is love.'”

Many people nodded in agreement as Omar continued, “This vigil today is an example of that fragrance, and example of that love.”