Dr. Suzanne Barakat, the sister of Deah Barakat, challenged Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Saturday.

Deah Barakat, his wife Yusor Abu-Salha, and Yusor’s sister Razan Abu-Salha, were killed at their apartment on February 10, 2015.  A suspect was charged with three counts of murder.  The suspect’s wife has claimed that there was a dispute over parking, but the victims’ families believe that this was a hate crime.

Suzanne Barakat tweeted a direct challenge at Trump after the presidential candidate told a story about bullets dipped in pigs’ blood.

During a Charleston, South Carolina speech, Trump told a story about Gen. John J. Pershing.  The story, which is disputed, claims that General Pershing dipped bullets in pigs’ blood and executed 49 out of 50 Muslim prisoners.  Trump told the story as an example of how to get tough on Islamic terrorism.

This led Suzanne Barakat to tweet:

She told the New York Times that Trump’s comments were “a moment when I just said, ‘enough is enough.’”

She added, ““I want him to tell me to my face that he would ban someone like me if he were to become president of this country.  I want to show him pictures of Deah and Yusor and Razan and tell him about who they were and what they did. I want him to tell me to my face that I don’t belong here.”

Suzanne Barakat is currently a physician in San Francisco.  She graduated from the University of North Carolina with a Bachelor of Science in 2009 and from the UNC School of Medicine as a Doctor of Medicine in 2014.

She was recently in Chapel Hill for a service to honor Our Three Winners.  She told the hundreds who gathered about the last time she saw her brother:

“He rocks me in his arms, and he kisses my forehead, and he says, ‘I love you so much. I am so grateful for everything you have done for me.’ And it wasn’t a rare thing for him to do that and I cherished it so much because I was so lucky to have such a brother.”

Our Three Winners

Photo by Blake Hodge

 

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