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#JusticeForElijah trends after man slits Black teen’s throat over rap music

He claims the rap music made him feel ‘unsafe.’

Photo of Katie Balevic

Katie Balevic

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On July 4, a white man killed a Black 17-year-old named Elijah Al-Amin by slitting his throat. He said he felt threatened by the rap music Al-Amin was playing.

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Now people are demanding justice with the #JusticeForElijah hashtag.

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According to AZ Central, Al-Amin was listening to rap music while parked in his car at a convenience store parking lot in Peoria, Arizona. Michael Adams, the 27-year-old alleged killer, heard the music and later told police that it made him feel “unsafe.” Adams also said people who listen to rap music are a threat to the community, so he decided to be “proactive rather than reactive.”

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Surveillance footage shows that Adams followed Al-Amin into the convenience store and lunged at him with a pocketknife, stabbing him in the back and slitting his throat. Al-Amin ran out of the store before collapsing under a gas station canopy. Police began CPR, and Al-Amin was taken to a hospital, where he died at 2:05am.

People were outraged upon hearing of the crime.

https://twitter.com/JamesJeffersonJ/status/1148230111742664704

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Adams’ lawyer, Jacie Cotterell, said Adams was “set up for failure” because he couldn’t access mental health services after being released from prison two days earlier, according to AZ Central. Adams’ criminal history includes theft, disorderly conduct, and assault, according to Maricopa County Superior Court records.

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Meanwhile, a statement from Bill Lamoreaux, a spokesman from the Arizona Department of Corrections, stated that Adams was “not designated seriously mentally ill.”

People aren’t buying the “mentally ill” defense and want it to be called a hate crime.

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Adams was charged with first-degree murder and is being held in a Maricopa County jail on a $1 million bond. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 15.

This story has been updated.

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