By Renner Clements, Staff Writer
On Sep. 25, a gunman in Amman, Jordan killed writer Nahed Hattar.
Hattar was shot three times outside of a court where he was being tried for blasphemy after sharing an offensive political cartoon to his Facebook page. The attacker was apprehended immediately following the shooting, according to state news agency Petra.
Hattar was walking with his wife and two children when he was shot.
The cartoon depicted a bearded man lounging with women in heaven, asking God to bring him cashews and wine. Many Jordanian Muslims deemed this caricature of a terrorist’s image of heaven offensive, and was taken down from the Facebook page shortly after the picture was posted.
Hattar, a Christian writer, shared the cartoon because it “mocks ISIS terrorists and their concept of heaven,” according to his original apology statement. Hattar was then accused of widely sharing an insult to Islam, and of inciting sectarian strife, according to Al-Jazeera News. He was on his way to his court hearing when gunned down.
[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Hattar, a Christian writer, shared the cartoon because it “mocks ISIS terrorists and their concept of heaven,”[/perfectpullquote]
The suspect, Riad Abdullah, is a local imam (a person who leads prayers in mosques) who had been upset by the cartoon, according to the BBC.
The Jordanian government has publicly condemned the killing, stating, “The government will strike with an iron hand all those who exploit this crime to broadcast speeches of hatred to our community.”