DALLAS – Omar Omar believes that the American dream is mainly about never giving up. The 40-year-old Iraqi native admits he thought about it in the days and years after a deadly shooting at his business, Omar’s Wheels and Tires.
“Sometimes it crosses my mind, I want to get out of this corner. I want to go do something else in life,” Omar said. “I don’t want to be in this business anymore.”
Federal investigators said Anthony Torres, 38, was pulled from the business in December 2015 because of its Muslim ownership. But they said it was not to support Buckner Blvd. establishment in the Pleasant Grove community of Dallas.
“I was here. I was part of it. Everything happened from A to Z,” Omar said.
The business owner said before Dec. 24, Torres had come into the business asking people if they were Muslim. In earlier reports by CBS News Texas, Dallas police told Torres not to return to the property. But he did.
“And he came up to me, he said, ‘Hey, where’s Omar?’ I’m like, ‘Omar’s not here,'” Omar said.
Omar said he denied his identity to Torres that day because his brother tipped him off. By the time Torres reached the parking lot, Omar recalled the chaos that followed.
“For me, coming from another country — coming to America and seeing this happen, it shocked me,” Omar said.
Client Enrique Garcia-Mendoza was killed. Investigators said Torres tried to shoot four other people at the facility. Omar said he shot the gunman.
“If they come to my place, you shoot me, I’ll shoot you, you know,” Omar said. “Try to save the people in my parking lot and myself. And I’m protecting myself here.”
Torres was arrested on multiple charges, including murder. The crime was also investigated as a hate crime.
PJ O’Brien, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Dallas, would consider that case a hate crime that authorities were able to document.
“The data we have is the most recent and most complete of its kind, bringing us into the 2020-2021 time frame,” O’Brien said. “We saw an 11% increase in hate crimes from around 8,100 to around 9,100.”
According to statistics released by the FBI, nationally reported hate crime incidents increased by 11.6%. The Bureau’s data reveals that 64.5% of victims were targeted because of prejudice of race, ethnicity or background. The data also showed that 15.9% became the focus of hatred due to sexual orientation bias.
O’Brien runs the massive North Texas operation, which stretches from the Louisiana state line to New Mexico. He brings almost 20 years of experience to the Joint Terrorism Task Force — FBI Dallas experiences, he said, what everyone else does: unreported hate.
“Unfortunately, it’s difficult because a lot of times the people who are being victimized come from underrepresented groups that may have a lack of confidence in law enforcement and for a reason,” he said. “They may have come from places where law enforcement hasn’t necessarily handled it like it is here in the United States.”
So the FBI is using social media as part of its annual campaign to bring victims out of the shadows. Videos posted on social media in English, Spanish, Korean, Chinese and Urdu encourage victims to come forward. Agents want to hear about illegal encounters where biases include religion, race, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability.
O’Brien even has a pitch that would make doubters come forward. He said this is not a government trap to catch those immigrants.
“I would say that you know, you matter and you matter to us. And we understand that it is our obligation to help seek justice for you,” O’Brien said. “And while it may be difficult and while you may have had poor interactions with law enforcement in the past, our goal is to truly represent you. And the only way we can combat this problem is if we learn about the problem and hear about it.”
Victims can contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov.
Meanwhile, Omar said he has contributed to the Dallas community as a Muslim. He said whom he worships or does not worship is between him and God.