(image: AP/BBC)

Soon after the three young muslim victims of Tuesday’s shooting in Chapel Hill were laid to rest, the FBI announced it had opened a preliminary inquiry – not a full field investigation, and parallel to the local investigation – “to determine whether or not any federal laws were violated related to the case.” The Washington Post, meanwhile, looks at why hate crimes are so hard to prove.

While a motive in the killings is still officially unclear, the Christian Science Monitor reports that  the incident comes at a tense time for America’s seven-million-strong Muslim population.

With the murders generating a wide social media reaction and making headlines overseas, Turkish President Erdogan, on a visit to Mexico, criticized President Obama for his silence on the deaths.

“If you stay silent when faced with an incident like this, and don’t make a statement, the world will stay silent towards you. As politicians, we are responsible for everything that happens in our countries and we have to show our positions.”

* WORLD * In what the Washington Post called “an unusually frank speech,” FBI Director James Comey addressed the relationship between law enforcement and minority communities, saying some “hard truths” about racial bias had to be acknowledged, and even quoting the Avenue Q song ‘Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist.‘

“At many points in American history, law enforcement enforced the status quo, a status quo that was often brutally unfair to disfavored groups. One reason we cannot forget our law enforcement legacy is that the people we serve cannot forget it either. So we must talk about our history. It is a hard truth that lives on.”

Watch video of the full speech at the FBI site here

A federal judge instructed local officials in Mobile County, Alabama to start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, a ruling that could provide clarity for all of the state’s 67 counties, more than half of which had resisted issuing the documents this week.

* POLITICS * President Obama signed into law the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act.

Ashton Carter was overwhelmingly confirmed by the Senate as the new Defense Secretary.

The Democrats chose cheesesteaks over kale, picking Philadelphia over Brooklyn or Columbus to host its convention next year. Mayor Michael Nutter said Philly “is virtually a completely different city” from when it hosted the RNC in 2000, while Buzz Bissinger has some do’s and don’ts for delegates.

The last time the Democrats gathered in the City of Brotherly Love was in 1948, coincidentally also two years after losing control of both houses of congress. But the subsequent presidential election turned out ok for them… 

Finally, in case you slept through most of Thursday, the current incumbent of the White House made a video with BuzzFeed, featuring a selfie stick, to promote healthcare.gov. Inevitably, he took some flak from the usual sources, but the video racked up more than 2.5 million views in its first couple of hours.

* MEDIA *  The New York Times’ venerable media columnist David Carr died on Thursday night aged 58. His paper said he had collapsed in the newsroom, soon after hosting a Timestalks discussion with Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and, via video, Edward Snowden.

Times executive editor Dean Baquet made the announcement to staff:

https://twitter.com/TheoTypes/status/566079848113000448

News of Carr’s passing was met with widespread shock and grief on social media, with a torrent of tributes from his many colleagues, friends and admirers.

The Times put together some of his best quotes here and the paper’s archive has a collection of his articles here, while his obituary – and this beautiful photograph by Chester Higgins Jr – adorned Friday’s front page. Above the fold.

“I now inhabit a life I don’t deserve, but we all walk this earth feeling we are frauds. The trick is to be grateful and hope the caper doesn’t end any time soon”