A Gambian-born Muslim immigrant who later became a naturalized US citizen murdered two men outside a gay bar in Tucson, Arizona, in what police have confirmed was a targeted anti-LGBTQ hate crime.
Ousman Ceesay, 44, shot Cameron Davis Capara, 33, and Vincent Anthony Siqueiros, 42, shortly after 12.30am on Monday, 31 August, in the parking lot of Venture-N, a long-standing gay bar. Both victims died at the scene. Ceesay then shot himself and later died in hospital. Police found no previous connection between the attacker and the victims.
Investigators initially found Ceesay carrying a list of several LGBTQ-associated businesses. A later search of his home uncovered a note indicating that he had acted alone and that the attack was motivated by hatred towards the LGBTQ community. Tucson police subsequently classified the case as a hate crime and double murder-suicide.
Further details about Ceesay’s background emerged this week. His cousin Muhammad Sylva told the Arizona Daily Star that Ceesay grew up in The Gambia, moved to the United States around 2010 on a student visa to attend college in Oklahoma, and later became a naturalized citizen during Donald Trump’s first presidential term. Sylva also described him as a practising Muslim who regularly prayed five times a day and observed religious fasts, while stressing that he had never considered him an extremist.
Ceesay’s Gambian background has inevitably become part of the political debate surrounding the attack. Homosexuality remains criminalized in The Gambia, where ‘aggravated homosexuality’ can carry a life sentence, while strong social hostility towards homosexuality remains widespread. Sylva said both Muslim and Christian communities in the country generally reject homosexuality.
Police, however, have not identified an Islamist or explicitly religious motive, and no evidence released so far suggests that Ceesay invoked Islam, jihad, or religious doctrine in his note. The established motive is anti-LGBTQ hatred—which is nevertheless indirectly related to Islam.
One of the victims, Capara, was well embedded in Tucson’s progressive and far-left activist scene. Friends described him as ‘passionate about social justice’, while his social media posts showed him at pro-Palestine, anti-ICE, and ‘No Kings’ demonstrations. One Instagram post displayed an Antifa sticker with the caption ‘Antifa is Everywhere’.
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