Hillary Clinton denounces murder of Lebanese-American Khalid Jabara

Hillary Clinton on Thursday denounced last week's murder of an Arab-American Oklahoma resident by a neighbour who had taunted the victim and his family with racial slurs for years.

Khalid Jabara was shot dead last Friday outside his Tulsa home by Stanley Vernon Majors, who was awaiting trial for running the victim’s mother over with his car.

The Democratic presidential nominee on her official Facebook page shared a post written by Jabara’s sister Victoria, in which she explains the details of the attack that led to her brother’s death.

'Victoria, my heart breaks for you and your family over the loss of your brother Khalid," Clinton wrote on Facebook.

"An attack like this is an attack on all of us, and we must come together to ensure that no other family loses a beloved son or daughter because of prejudice and bigotry," she added.

The Jabara family for years had lived in fear of Majors, who repeatedly attacked their ethnicity and perceived religion with slurs such as "dirty Arabs," "filthy Lebanese," "Aye-rabs," and "Mooslems," Victoria wrote on Facebook. The family is in fact Christian.

Jabara's family and many observers have said that his death could have been prevented if authorities had taken the family's concerns seriously.

The Washington Post reported that Majors was convicted in 2012 of assault with a deadly weapon and making "criminal threats" in San Bernardino County, California.

Steve Kunzweiler, Tulsa County District Attorney said in a statement Tuesday that "the [Jabara] family did everything they were supposed to do and the system failed them."

Commentators are blaming the murder on the rising levels of Islamophobia and anti-Arab sentiments that have accompanied the current presidential election campaign.

Republican nominee Donald Trump has been accused of fueling these sentiments with his anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim positions.

Clinton is attempting to appeal to communities alienated by Trump's policy proposals and has called for an increase in the number of Syrian refugees admitted by the US.