Utah Hate Crime: Indian Man Critically Injured in Mall Stabbing
New Delhi: A 38-year-old Indian Muslim man in Utah, United States, was stabbed 15 times in what police have confirmed was a hate crime on Monday, July 13. The attacker was apprehended by onlookers at the shopping mall in Salt Lake City where the incident occurred before he was taken away by police.
Police later said the man behind the stabbing was 48-year-old Peter Larsen and that he had identified his victim based on their religion. Police alleged that Larsen had admitted to intended to perpetrate more attacks, a mass crime targeting Muslims.
Reports identified the victim as Sohail, who was out to bring a bottle of water when he was apprehended and stabbed after Larsen identified his religion. Sohail survived and is undergoing treatment. His family has sought public support to pay for his treatment.
"I know he doesn't have insurance," Luna Nunez, who worked with Sohail at Magma Diamonds in the Valley Fair mall told KSL.com. "He's the only man that is working in his family. He has two babies and a wife, and they are not working right now."
A report in KUTV said the stabbing victim was heavily bleeding and transported to the hospital in critical condition, where he received surgery. His condition was reported to be critical two days ago.
Details about Larsen, including his past criminal record, emerged in a Monday court filing on probable cause, a document that said Larsen admitted to police he targeted the victim because he was Muslim as well as the allegation that he was planning additional attacks.
Reuters reported that according to police, the suspect "intends to kill Muslims" and that he posed "a substantial danger to the public if released based on his violent actions ... ideologies and pre-planned mass casualty events".
Larsen was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail facing attempted murder and prohibited dangerous weapon charges.
"We don’t want to say anything else until we receive the results of the investigation,” Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said in a statement according to ABC News. Gill's office would decide whether to pursue the charges against Larsen.
"This horrific attack is yet another reminder that anti-Muslim rhetoric has real-world consequences. When Muslims are routinely demonised, portrayed as threats or treated as less deserving of equal rights and dignity, some twisted individuals inevitably act on that hatred," said the Council on American-Islamic Relations' executive director Nihad Awad in a statement, KSL reported. The council is the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organisation in the United States.
The Indian consulate in San Francisco responded to the incident on July 16, saying in a post on X that it was closely monitoring the situation and would provide assistance to the family of the victim.
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