An Oklahoma man suspected of murdering his Arab-American neighbor has a long history of harassment and violence towards minority groups and was deemed a “substantial risk to the public” by Tulsa County prosecutors, according to the Tulsa World.
Stanley Vernon Majors, 61, is accused of shooting Khalid Jabara, 37, at the Jabara family’s home in south Tulsa on Friday, and was held without bail at the Tulsa jail for first-degree murder and possession of a firearm after a felony conviction, the newspaper reported.
Majors was found hiding behind a tree at nearby Hardesty Library soon after Jabara was shot, according to the Tulsa World.
Though Tulsa police say it is too early to determine whether the incident was a hate crime, Jabara’s sister, Victoria Jabara Williams, shared a post on Facebook accusing Majors of harassing her family for years.
“The perpetrator was not unknown to us — he is our neighbor — someone whom we continuously brought to law enforcement’s attention,” Williams said in the family’s official statement.
“This suspect had a history of bigotry against our family,” the statement says. “He repeatedly attacked our ethnicity and perceived religion, making racist comments. He often called us ‘dirty Arabs,’ ‘filthy Lebanese,’ ‘Aye-rabs,’ and ‘Mooslems’ — a fact highlighted by the Tulsa Police Department who also heard these comments from the suspect.”
The statement accused Tulsa authorities of not doing enough to address the threat from a man who her family “lived in fear of” for years, calling him “a known danger.”
Court records obtained by the Tulsa World provide evidence that Majors targeted the Jabaras for years.
Matriarch Haifa Jabara received a protective order against him in November 2013 after she told a Tulsa County judge that he had harassed her and “is very racist towards foreigners and blacks,” the newspaper reported. The order prohibited Majors from going near Jabara or her home or possessing firearms until 2018. Still, the racial slurs and death threats continued, causing Majors to be charged with violating the protective order in March 2015, though he was released from jail after posting bond.
In September 2015, Majors drove his vehicle into Haifa Jabara and sped off, leaving her with a broken shoulder and other injuries, according to the Tulsa World. He was charged with assault and battery with a deadly weapon, public intoxication, leaving the scene of a collision involving injury, and yet again violating the protective order. Despite his history with the Jabara family and Tulsa prosecutors’ determination that he was a “risk” to the public, District Judge William LaFortune set bail for Majors after he spent only eight months in jail. He was granted bond and released in May, the Tulsa World reported.
The Jabara family said in their statement that the hit-and-run incident should also have been treated as a hate crime and that he should not have been shown leniency.
“He was released and put back next door to us, the family he assaulted just months before,” the statement says. “This is troubling at any time, but profoundly disturbing given the current climate of our country and the increase nationally in cases of hate crimes.”
According to the statement, Khalid Jabara on Friday called the police warning that Majors “had a gun and that he was scared for what might happen.”
Tulsa police confirmed to the newspaper that their department received a call from Jabara about “suspicious activity” and arrived to investigate, but cleared the call shortly before Majors allegedly shot Jabara.
There has been a significant increase in threats and violence towards Arab-Americans and Muslims in the past year, according to groups like the Anti-Defamation League.
On Saturday, an imam and his associate were fatally shot in the head while walking from their mosque in Queens, New York.
Read the Jabara family’s full statement below.
Correction: The original version of this post incorrectly identified the Jabaras as Muslims. According to Al-Aribaya, the family is of “Lebanese-Christian” descent.
Thanks Donald for giving every racist nut job in the US a voice and permission to show your hate.
Don’t even get me started about crazy people with access to guns.
Trump’s America
I hope the deceased family sues this police department into oblivion. Were I on the jury, Tulsa wouldn’t have enough money to pay for this travesty.
I wonder how this would’ve gone had rolls reversed and Mr. Jabara repeatedly and violently attacked his neighbor Mr. Nelson. I think we all know the answer to that.
I’ve said to everyone at my workplace in my small southern town: we are all far more likely to be killed by an angry white dude with guns and grievances than we are by any Muslim. Of course it falls on deaf ears.
Oklahoma has the Death Penalty, I believe?
OK, which is it? If he’s a felon, the ban on having guns is a lifetime ban. Why the court order only prohibiting him from possessing firearms until 2018? Get your checkbooks out, Tulsa County / City of Tulsa. You’ll be writing some large checks.