#IllWalkWithYou campaign kicks off on social media in support of US Muslims after fatal shooting

Social media users are offering to accompany Muslims who fear travelling alone to their mosque, after two men, including a Muslim imam, were fatally shot while walking home from afternoon prayers in New York City.

Social media users are offering to accompany Muslims who fear travelling alone to their mosque, after two men, including a Muslim imam, were fatally shot while walking home from afternoon prayers in New York City.

The ‘I’ll walk with you’ hashtag was inspired by the ‘I’ll ride with you’ hashtag which sprung up in support of Muslims in Australia following the Sydney siege.

The victims of Saturday’s shooting in the borough of Queens, identified as Imam Maulama Akonjee, 55, and Thara Uddin, 64, were both wearing religious garb at the time of the shooting, police said.

Although police said the motive was unknown and no arrests had been made, the New York mayor’s office said “the NYPD is looking at all angles of this crime, including the hate crime”.

The shooting comes amid a climate of anti-Muslim sentiment as a wave of deadly attacks have unfolded in the US and abroad, some of which have been claimed by the Islamic State group, and Republican presidential contender Donald Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims from entering the US.