# Beaten Iraqi woman in San Diego dies **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 25, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791 "2012-03-25T21:34:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/1 "2012-03-25T21:34:10Z")
[Link](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/iraqi-woman-beaten-calif-threat-note-scene-15994270#.T2-DHkazAyw%5B/url) > [@](#): > > A 32-year-old woman from Iraq who was found severely beaten next to a threatening note saying “go back to your country” died on Saturday. > > Hanif Mohebi, the director of the San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he met with Shaima Alawadi’s family members in the morning and was told that she was taken off life support around 3 p.m. I grew up in San Diego, and I remember Nazi newspapers distributed on people’s lawns. (We played Army with them. My parents were _not pleased_.) This was when Tom Metzger was the KKK leader there. My oldest friend is in San Diego, and he displays (blatantly) racist tendencies. I’m not surprised this happened there. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/2 "2012-03-26T03:48:27Z")
That’s horrible. [Good link](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/iraqi-woman-beaten-calif-threat-note-scene-15994270#.T2_mjTFumXp) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/3 "2012-03-26T05:09:53Z")
This is shocking and horrific. I hope the perpetrators are resisting arrest when they are apprehended. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Goliath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rex\_Goliath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Goliath)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/4 "2012-03-26T15:44:13Z")
What’s the deal with racism in San Diego? I recently moved here from Alabama, so it kind of fades into the background of “expected social behavior”, but I kind of get the impression that my new city is sort of the hick-town of California. Correct? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/5 "2012-03-26T16:34:27Z")
Anyone else’s bullshit detector going off on this one? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/6 "2012-03-26T17:01:02Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Anyone else’s bullshit detector going off on this one? [Google News search](https://news.google.com/news/more?q=%22Shaima+Alawadi%22&hl=en&prmd=imvnsuo&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1107&bih=547&wrapid=tlif133278111892310&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ncl=dAt3oFrKNv7vn_MihcA7VJ1v-ZnaM&ei=S6BwT6L9MOeWiAL-0IiBBQ&sa=X&oi=news_result&ct=more-results&resnum=1&ved=0CC0QqgIwAA). ---
**Author:** ![Bouncer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@Bouncer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bouncer)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/7 "2012-03-26T17:35:14Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Anyone else’s bullshit detector going off on this one? Mine is a little. They didn’t apparently do any other damage to the property, at least none of the reports I read specified any. They didn’t steal anything. Didn’t vandalize anything, and left a nice (possibly distracting) note with (apparently) neither DNA nor fingerprints. They left the murder weapon at the scene with (again) no trace evidence. They used a blunt force quiet instrument so no gunshots to alert anyone. They selected a perfect time when EVERYONE else was out of the house. This doesn’t seem like a crime of passion, but rather a very pre-meditated attack. I’m not aware of many hate crimes falling into the “looks like a pro job” category. Ask yourself this question.. who would you suspect if there were no “hate note”? To me, it feels like a vendetta of some sort with the note as a cover up / distraction. I could easily be very wrong of course, this is all conjecture. But yeah, my BS meter is pinging a bit. Regards, -Bouncer- ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/8 "2012-03-26T17:55:31Z")
> [@Rex\_Goliath](#): > > What’s the deal with racism in San Diego? I recently moved here from Alabama, so it kind of fades into the background of “expected social behavior”, but I kind of get the impression that my new city is sort of the hick-town of California. Correct? No, San Diego is definitely more conservative leaning than other big cities in California, like Los Angeles and San Francisco, but it’s also the home of some great universities, thriving biotech and IT industries, good live theater, and strong environmental movements. There are some pockets of hickdom, particularly in El Cajon and Lakeside, but even there overt racism is unacceptable to the mainstream. I’ve never received, or even seen, a Nazi newspaper and weren’t the Metzgers from Fallbrook anyway? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/9 "2012-03-26T18:10:10Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [Google News search](https://news.google.com/news/more?q=%22Shaima+Alawadi%22&hl=en&prmd=imvnsuo&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1107&bih=547&wrapid=tlif133278111892310&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ncl=dAt3oFrKNv7vn_MihcA7VJ1v-ZnaM&ei=S6BwT6L9MOeWiAL-0IiBBQ&sa=X&oi=news_result&ct=more-results&resnum=1&ved=0CC0QqgIwAA). Sorry, didn’t mean to imply that the OP itself was bullshit. The suspicions I have are pretty much what **Bouncer** mentions. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/10 "2012-03-26T18:12:37Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > I’ve never received, or even seen, a Nazi newspaper and weren’t the Metzgers from Fallbrook anyway? This was in the late-'60s or early-'70s. I don’t remember how many pages they were, and I didn’t bother to read them. But they were folded such that they were about 8-1/2" x 11", with a swastika in a circle on each side of the top of the page, and were rolled into a tube-shape and held that way with a small rubber band. I can remember these appearing on lawns at least twice in my childhood. Of course I was too young to know who Tom Metzger was at the time, and didn’t have a concept of racism. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/11 "2012-03-26T18:28:16Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > There are some pockets of hickdom, particularly in El Cajon and Lakeside, but even there overt racism is unacceptable to the mainstream. This attack happened in El Cajon (not San Diego) which definitely is still a pocket of hickdom, as far as I know. It’s like a totally separate culture (and last I heard, a locus of bikers and meth production). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/12 "2012-03-26T18:32:15Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > This attack happened in El Cajon (not San Diego) which definitely is still a pocket of hickdom, as far as I know. _I’m glad I’m not an El Ca-John redneck Them cowboy boots and spurs just get me down (Get me down) I [want to stay right here?] in Encanto…_ And I forget the rest. It’s from the first (I think) KGB _Homegrown_ album. . ---
**Author:** ![florez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9e5f3/32.png) [@florez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/florez)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/13 "2012-03-26T18:44:14Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > This attack happened in El Cajon (not San Diego) which definitely is still a pocket of hickdom, as far as I know. It’s like a totally separate culture (and last I heard, a locus of bikers and meth production). In my opinion El Cajon is not much different from San Diego. It is located just down the road, and the Lake Murray area of El Cajon is a typical middle class suburb. However, both areas are entirely military and naval, as I recall. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/14 "2012-03-26T18:46:32Z")
I’m sure the usual suspect in a case like this will be investigated: especially if a new life insurance policy was recently issued. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/15 "2012-03-26T19:11:08Z")
> [@florez](#): > > In my opinion El Cajon is not much different from San Diego. It is located just down the road, and the Lake Murray area of El Cajon is a typical middle class suburb. > However, both areas are entirely military and naval, as I recall. Lake Murray is in San Diego and La Mesa, and while there are communities (especially the hills surrounding) of El Cajon that are “typical middle class,” its location to the east makes it the closest city to rural San Diego County. As such, it has never really taken on an urban character, which makes the Iraqi presence there somewhat unusual (even though they’re Christian Iraqis). Most refugees and immigrants in the county end up closer to downtown San Diego in places like City Heights. That said, I don’t think their presence in El Cajon has been a source of much prejudice, and this thing could very well have been about something else. Personally, I find all of San Diego County intractably provincial in mentality, (despite the size of the city of San Diego, at about one million). I grew up there, and fled the day I turned 18. ---
**Author:** ![florez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9e5f3/32.png) [@florez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/florez)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/16 "2012-03-26T19:48:50Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Lake Murray is in San Diego and La Mesa, and while there are communities (especially the hills surrounding) of El Cajon that are “typical middle class,” its location to the east makes it the closest city to rural San Diego County. As such, it has never really taken on an urban character, which makes the Iraqi presence there somewhat unusual (even though they’re Christian Iraqis). Most refugees and immigrants in the county end up closer to downtown San Diego in places like City Heights. That said, I don’t think their presence in El Cajon has been a source of much prejudice, and this thing could very well have been about something else. > > Personally, I find all of San Diego County intractably provincial in mentality, (despite the size of the city of San Diego, at about one million). I grew up there, and fled the day I turned 18. You are right, Lake Murray is in La Mesa. Now I am remembering the El Cajon downtown, with the strip mall, surplus stores, greasy spoons, and pawn shops…horrible place. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/17 "2012-03-26T20:22:55Z")
> [@Bouncer](#): > > Mine is a little. They didn’t apparently do any other damage to the property, at least none of the reports I read specified any. They didn’t steal anything. Didn’t vandalize anything, and left a nice (possibly distracting) note with (apparently) neither DNA nor fingerprints. They left the murder weapon at the scene with (again) no trace evidence. They used a blunt force quiet instrument so no gunshots to alert anyone. They selected a perfect time when EVERYONE else was out of the house. > > This doesn’t seem like a crime of passion, but rather a very pre-meditated attack. I’m not aware of many hate crimes falling into the “looks like a pro job” category. > > Ask yourself this question.. who would you suspect if there were no “hate note”? > > To me, it feels like a vendetta of some sort with the note as a cover up / distraction. > > I could easily be very wrong of course, this is all conjecture. But yeah, my BS meter is pinging a bit. > > Regards, > -Bouncer- Are there racists and bigots capabe of doing this? Sure, and if they’re caught, thye should get the worst punishment available. That said, I’m almost tempted to bet 5 bucks the actual killer is another Muslim (likely a boyfriend or ex-husband or relative) who disapproved of her lifestyle, and left a phony note to throw off suspicion. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/18 "2012-03-26T20:25:21Z")
I’m with Astorian and Bouncer on this. as far as racism and SD goes, I dunno. Never lived ANYWhere there weren’t bigots, and that’s from VT-AK, so…yeah. I’m south of SD now, and it’s hard to tell the ‘joking’ bigotry from the real thing. Well, except I don’t think anyone’s been murdered with a note lately… ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/19 "2012-03-26T20:32:31Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > I’m with Astorian and Bouncer on this. I think I am too. And I’m sorry a woman is dead. Nobody deserves to die like that. If it was a “cultural” thing, some attitude brought from elsewhere, I hope the perpetrator has it impressed on them that crap like that is not acceptable in _this_ culture. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791/20 "2012-03-26T21:02:40Z")
> [@Bouncer](#): > > This doesn’t seem like a crime of passion, but rather a very pre-meditated attack. I’m not aware of many hate crimes falling into the “looks like a pro job” category. > > Ask yourself this question.. who would you suspect if there were no “hate note”? > > To me, it feels like a vendetta of some sort with the note as a cover up / distraction. Two notes. > [@](#): > > Police said the family had found a similar note earlier this month but had not reported it to authorities. Himidi said her mother had dismissed the first note as a child’s prank. So yes, it was pretty clearly premeditated. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beaten-iraqi-woman-in-san-diego-dies/616791.md?page=2)