Former Soldier Sentenced to 55 Years for Fatal Shooting in Road Rage Incident.
In a tragic case that unfolded in Indianapolis, a former soldier has been handed a 55-year prison sentence for the killing of Mustafa Ayoubi, a Muslim man, in what authorities described as a “road rage” incident. The verdict came after witnesses testified that the perpetrator, Dustin Passarelli, had directed ethnic and religious insults toward the victim before fatally shooting him.
The incident occurred four years ago when Passarelli followed Ayoubi off the main Interstate 465, leading to a verbal altercation between the two. Eyewitnesses reported that Passarelli unleashed a series of Islamophobic slurs, including the phrase “Go back to your country,” before resorting to gun violence.
The case garnered widespread attention, attracting the interest of the FBI and coinciding with debates on hate crime legislation in Indiana. Although the state eventually passed a “bias crimes” law, critics argue that it falls short of effectively addressing hate crimes.
Passarelli, who was not charged with a hate crime or tried in federal court, claimed self-defense, stating that he shot Ayoubi after the latter allegedly attempted to strike his car window. He also cited post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) stemming from his military service as a contributing factor.
However, the autopsy revealed that Ayoubi had been shot eight times, with one shot coming from the front and the remaining seven hitting him in the back. Police found no evidence of damage to Passarelli’s vehicle.
Ayoubi, an Afghan-American refugee who had built a life in the United States, was remembered by his sister Zahra as a kind, caring, and intelligent individual. Following the guilty verdict, Zahra expressed relief that justice had been served, commemorating her brother’s vibrant spirit and condemning hate.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization, reported a decrease in complaints of Islamophobia in 2022 compared to the previous year, although they still received 5,156 such complaints.
