Utah prosecutors have charged a 48-year-old man with attempted aggravated murder after authorities say he targeted and repeatedly stabbed a Muslim worker at a West Valley City mall in a religiously motivated hate crime.
(CN) – A man who attacked a Muslim worker in what some have described as a brutal hate crime at a West Valley City mall on July 13 is being charged with attempted murder, the Salt Lake District Attorney’s office DESIGNATED Friday.
Peter Michael Larsen, 48, of Taylorsville, Utah, is charged with two counts of first-degree felony attempted aggravated murder and one count of third-degree felony prohibited dangerous weapon, the district attorney’s office said.
The incident occurred at Valley Fair Mall when Larsen reportedly attacked the victim, described in media reports only as Sohail, at a central kiosk after learning he was Muslim, a police detective wrote in statement of probable cause.
Sohail later told police detectives that Larsen approached him at his kiosk and first asked him for water. Larsen then asked him where he was from and Sohail told him that he was from India. Larsen then asked him if he was a Muslim, which Sohail confirmed.
Larsen reportedly said, “Everything is like Jesus Christ,” and began stabbing the victim in the head, neck, chest, arm and hand with what witnesses described as a 4-inch blade with brass knuckles attached to it, according to the probable cause affidavit. Police said Sohail had about a dozen wounds on his body.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill condemned the attack as religiously motivated.
“In the United States of America, we live in a pluralistic society,” Gill said in a press release. “We live together with people who may come from different cultures, have different religious beliefs, and may not share our exact view of the world, but we still believe in our country’s promise that you can come here and live your American dream. An allegedly unprovoked attack on anyone in our community is unacceptable, but an allegedly motivated attack because of the victim’s religion is alarming.”
In an interview with police, Larsen said he had planned the night before to go to the mall to make an example of Muslims and be a catalyst to rid the country of what he described as an infestation, the affidavit said.
Larsen told police he planned to decapitate Sohail and throw his head down the aisle of the mall and that he wanted to eat his heart in a dramatic fashion. He told the police that he wanted to kill as many Muslims as possible in the mall as an inspiration to others.
Among Utah’s population of 3.5 million, Muslims make up less than 1%.
Larsen also told police he planned to be arrested.
“I just attempted murder,” he told police in the statement of probable cause. “I’ve never done anything like this before, but I think the place is worth it and something should be done.”
Bystanders who were present tried to restrain Larsen after he began the attack and resorted to throwing objects at him. A friend of Sohail tried to intervene and was cut in the arm. Larsen reportedly told him he was next.
A group of men eventually restrained Larsen, one of whom punched him in the head until he was unconscious. Footage was also captured and shared on the internet.
Larsen reportedly rode his scooter to the mall, watched a movie and bought the gun before attacking Sohail, who he told police he had spoken to in the past.
“This behavior is not only an alleged attack on the two victims, but it is also an attack on the values and ideals that bind us as a community and still welcome the outsider,” Gill continued in the press release Friday. “We appreciate the work of the West Valley City Police Department detectives whose investigation helped lead to these charges.”
of Council on American Islamic Relations condemned the attack immediately after it happened.
“This horrific attack is another reminder that anti-Muslim rhetoric has real-world consequences,” the council’s national director, Nihad Awad, said in a statement. “When Muslims are routinely demonized, portrayed as threats, or treated as less deserving of equal rights and dignity, some twisted individuals inevitably act on that hatred. Our nation’s political and community leaders have a moral responsibility to reject anti-Muslim hatred in all its forms before more innocent people are harmed.”
Larsen has additional felony convictions related to weapons and domestic violence dating back to 2021 and was on parole at the time of the attack, according to Utah court records. Court records show he was involved in an armed standoff with police in 2022 and was shot.
Larsen is being held without bail.
Details on future court dates were not available.
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