Please let us pray for the extended members of this family and for the
perpetrators of this heinous crime.

January 16, 2005
Islamist Murder In Jersey City?
http://www.powerlineblog.com/

The brutal murder of a family of Coptic Christians in Jersey City, New
Jersey may have been carried out by Muslim fanatics in retaliation for the
expression of "anti-Muslim" views on the internet. The New York Post
reports:

The father of a murdered New Jersey family was threatened for making
anti-Muslim remarks online - and the gruesome quadruple slaying may have
been the hateful retaliation, sources told The Post yesterday.
Hossam Armanious, 47, who along with his wife and two daughters was found
stabbed to death in his Jersey City home early Friday, would regularly
debate religion in a Middle Eastern chat room, one source said.

Armanious, an Egyptian Christian, was well known for expressing his Coptic
beliefs and engaging in fiery back-and-forth with Muslims on the Web site
paltalk.com.

He "had the reputation for being one of the most outspoken Egyptian
Christians," said the source, who had close ties to the family.

The source, who had knowledge of the investigation, refused to specify the
anti-Muslim statement. But he said cops told him they were looking into the
exchanges as a possible motive.

The married father of two had recently been threatened by Muslim members of
the Web site, said a fellow Copt and store clerk who uses the chat room.

"You'd better stop this bull---- or we are going to track you down like a
chicken and kill you," was the threat, said the clerk, who was online at the
time and saw the exchange.

But Armanious refused to back down, according to two sources who use the Web
site.

Armanious' fervor apparently rubbed off on his daughter, Sylvia - who would
have turned 16 yesterday.

"She was very religious and very opinionated," said Jessica Cimino, 15, a
fellow sophomore at Dickenson HS.

A family member who viewed photos of the bloodbath said Sylvia seemed to
have taken the most savage punishment.

"When we saw the pictures, you could tell that they were hurt really, really
bad in the face; especially Sylvia," said Milad Garas, the high-school
sophomore's great-uncle.

The heartless killer not only slit Sylvia's throat, but also sliced a huge
gash in her chest and stabbed her in the wrist, where she had a tattoo of a
Coptic cross.

Also found murdered were the wife, Amal Garas, and the parents' other
daughter, Monica.
 

As we've said many times before, these fanatics cannot be reasoned with or
deterred. They can only be hunted down and killed, and the more of them that
are killed in countries other than this one (Iraq, for example), the better.