A social media campaign has sprung up in the US, with people offering to accompany members of the Muslim community to mosque, after an imam and his assistant were killed in New York.

People all over the country are tweeting #IllWalkWithYou.

Imam Maulama Akonjee, 55 and his assistant Thara Uddin, 64, were approached from behind by a man who shot them both in the head, a police spokesman said.

So far, no-one has been arrested.

Police said there were as yet "no indications" the men were targeted because of their faith.

The pair were shot a short walk from the al-Furqan Jame mosque, in the New York borough of Queens, at about 13:50 local time (17:50 GMT) on Saturday.

Dozens of people from the nearby Muslim community gathered at the scene to mourn and demonstrate.

Inspired by a similar Australian campaign, Americans are now offering messages of support to the US Muslim community.

After a siege in Sydney in 2014, in which Man Haron Monis took 18 peoplehostage, #IllRideWithYou was begun.

Rachael Jacobs was on public transport when she saw a Muslim woman removing her hijab after the siege.

Jacobs went up to her, saying: "Put it back on. I'll walk with you."

The US trend seems to have been started by Lexi Alexander, who describes herself as an Arab-German filmmaker.

Now the message is starting to spread to countries outside of the US.

Friends of Imam Akonjee told media he had just left the mosque after prayers when he was shot.

"He would not hurt a fly," Imam Akonjee's nephew Rahi Majid, told the New York Daily News.

"You would watch him come down the street and watch the peace he brings."

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