A Michigan man asked two people if they were Muslim, then, when they answered “no” he stabbed both of them, according to police.
The incident took place at a Southfield bus station on Saturday, according to the Detroit Free Press.
A 52-year-old Detroit man was stabbed five times; once in the face, once in the neck and three times in the back, Southfield Police Chief Eric Hawkins said. A 51-year-old Detroit man who tried to intervene was stabbed in the hand.
Terrence Lavaron Thomas, 39, was arrested and charged with two counts of assault with intent to murder, one count of carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent and one count of possession of marijuana, according to MLive.
Southfield Police Chief Eric Hawkins told the Free Press that the two victims “said that the suspect asked them if they were Muslim.” When they said no, “there was some back-and-forth between the victims and the suspect” before he allegedly attacked them.
Nick Loussia, Deputy Chief of Police for the Southfield Police Department, told MLive that Thomas is a Muslim.
Thomas allegedly had two knives on him when police arrested him shortly after the attack. One of the knives was used in the stabbing, police said.
Thomas could also be charged with ethnic intimidation, but prosecutors haven’t decided whether to do so yet, the Washington Post reports.
The stabbing comes one week after the execution-style killing of three young Muslims in Chapel HIll, North Carolina. Some of the victims’ family members have asked that the incident be investigated as a hate crime.
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