Featured Image | Courtesy: MJ Jewkes and Sarah Murphy, KTVX
Zachariah Qureshi is a 25-year-old returned missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who attended the “American Comeback Tour” at Utah Valley University as a supporter of Charlie Kirk according to his father.
By the end of the day, he would be detained, questioned, and even labeled as the suspect in the fatal shooting of political commentator Charlie Kirk before being cleared of all suspicion and released.
Charlie Kirk was a right-wing political activist, author, and media personality. | Courtesy of Facebook“It’s ridiculous. It’s absolutely uncalled for and insane,” Qureshi’s father told ABC4.com. “They should be focused on finding the killer.”
The mistaken detainment has also caused the Qureshi family to come under fire as social media conspiracies and misinformation spread, even after it became clear Zachariah played no role in the shooting.
Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said in a press conference, “After releasing them, and after clearing them of being suspects, they faced scrutiny, they faced threats.”
The Qureshi family has continued to receive online harassments and their family address in Texas was posted online.
Commissioner Mason urged the public to stand down. “We ask that you do not impose into those people and that investigative process,” he said. “They don’t deserve that harassment for being subject to that.”
According to studies, misinformation can play a dangerous and harmful role in times of crisis. One states, “The popularity of conspiracy theories in historically traumatized societies threatens individuals’ health and well-being, social trust, cohesiveness, and intergroup harmony.”
An example is the tragic case of Sunil Tripathi. A young college student, Tripathi disappeared in March 2016. When the Boston Marathon bombing took place a month later in April, online commentators claimed they thought Tripathi could be involved.
Sunil Tripathi | BBCTripathi’s family was harassed and news reporters listed Tripathi as a “standout suspect.” After the real perpetrators were apprehended, it was discovered that Tripathi had died by suicide nearly a month earlier, shortly after his disappearance.
Latter-day Saints are encouraged to seek out correct information and use discernment in online discourses.
President Russell M. Nelson has taught, “The flood of information available at our fingertips, ironically, makes it increasingly difficult to determine what is true.”
The General Handbook for the Church states, “In today’s world, information is easy to access and share. This can be a great blessing for those seeking to be educated and informed. However, many sources of information are unreliable and do not edify. Some sources seek to promote anger, contention, fear, or baseless conspiracy theories. Therefore, it is important that Church members be wise as they seek truth.”
It continues, “Members of the Church should seek out and share only credible, reliable, and factual sources of information. They should avoid sources that are speculative or founded on rumor. The guidance of the Holy Ghost, along with careful study, can help members discern between truth and error.”
Click here to read more about finding truth in the digital age.
Aleah is a graduate of Southern Virginia University, where she studied English, Creative Writing, and Dance. She now works full time as a marketing and product manager, writer, and editor. She currently hosts the podcast “Single to the Glory” about singlehood in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Aleah served a mission in California and loves baking, Lang Leav poetry, Gaynor Minden pointe shoes, and Bollywood movies.
This breaks my heart. All of the hatred and divisiveness in our society needs to stop. All of it in our church must stop. We are all Father’s children. Even the shooter is a child of God. And God will take care of him through justice, and love, not hatred.
We are not qualified to judge one another. Our Savior is.
I pray that this returned missionary and his family will find the peace and respect that they deserve.
“Be still and know that I am God” are our Savior’s words. Not our words. We need to humbly submit to the Father as he did. Faith, hope, and charity are our charter.
Thank you for truth.
Thank you for saying this. A voice of faith and reason in this awful circumstance.
Unfortunately this kind of harrassement and judgement is the kind of thing that drives people away from the church. I pray that people will be more sympathetic to this family and that their testimony of the gospel is strong enough to survive this trial. I hope they remember that the Lord loves them which is the most important and that He knows the truth. As humans we tend to be intolerant and judgemental which is not our job on earth. I pray that the Qureshi family can feel the love of the the Gospel and the Lord and me. Their story is almost as tragic as the reason behind it.
He was probably just wearing similar clothes or something like that. Good thing they figured out the truth.
Department of Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason said in a press conference, “After releasing them, and after clearing them of being suspects, they faced scrutiny, they faced threats.”
How many were detained? I am confused. This statement refers to plural they not singular him or he.
Rest in peace Charlie Kirk. My condolences to your family and others affected by your loss.
We must not trust the internet; let us trust in the Savior and the heavenly Father. However, I feel that I must say this: I am apolitical, I am just a believer, a member of this true Church. It’s always tragic when someone loses their life — and Charlie Kirk deserves human sympathy as a man who was murdered. No one deserves a violent death. But what’s even more painful is the silence surrounding other tragedies. On the same day Kirk was killed, a mother and her two children were brutally murdered in Missouri. A family massacre. And no one talks about them. No presidential statement. No national mourning. No viral posts.
The value of human life should never be determined by political status, ideology, or follower count. If we grieve — let us grieve for every lost life. If we’re outraged — let it be for every act of violence. Because otherwise, we’re not grieving from compassion. We’re grieving from bias.