SALT LAKE CITY — The man accused of stabbing a West Valley City employee over his religion has been indicted on a federal hate crime charge.
Peter Larsen was officially indicted by a grand jury Wednesday for willfully causing bodily injury because of his actual or perceived religion.
Larsen was arrested on July 13, in the moments after he allegedly stabbed kiosk worker Syed Sohail Uddin multiple times at the Valley Fair Mall. Following his arrest, Larsen claimed he had targeted Uddin because he was Muslim.
Mall employee shares thanks for support after stabbing attack:
Documents showed that Larsen had purchased the knife used in the stabbings at the mall and had asked other employees if they were Muslim.
"...we will not tolerate violence motivated by religious hatred,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “
Jim McConkie, the attorney hired by the victim for representation in the case, released a statement on Thursday, saying, "We appreciate the quick response by Sim Gill and the County Attorney's Office, as well as the United States Attorney's Office, in moving to prosecute this matter on behalf of our clients. If we tolerate hate crimes in our community, we are quietly agreeing that safety is conditional — granted to some and withheld from others. Hate crimes are intended to terrorize everyone who shares a particular identity and hate crimes have absolutely no place in our community."
If Larsen is convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. He is scheduled to make his first court appearance on the indictment on Thursday.
