Hossam Armanious was a Coptic Christian immigrant from Egypt who lived in Jersey City.

* Hossam Armanious was a Coptic Christian immigrant from Egypt who lived in Jersey City. Early in the New Year, he, his wife, and two daughters were found murdered in their home. Fellow Copts believe they were slain for their religion. The Coptic minority in Egypt, comparable in its proportions to blacks in the U.S., suffers routine prejudice and sporadic violence, which is why Armanious left. In America, he vigorously defended his religion on an Arab-language chat site, and had been threatened for it. The throats of the victims were slit, and the cross-shaped wrist tattoo of one daughter was reportedly stabbed, though police have denied this. There was an ugly scene at the funeral when a Muslim cleric who had come to pay his respects was chased away by angry mourners. American justice requires that ordinary Muslims not be inculpated in the crimes of fanatics. But American justice also requires that, if anti-Coptic hatred has come to these shores, the Muslim community reject and denounce it.