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MILLCREEK — Unified police are investigating whether the recent assault of a Middle Eastern man rises to the level of a hate crime.
On Wednesday, Scott Kenneth Alexander, 37, of Millcreek, was arrested for investigation of two counts of assault, drug possession and unlawful detention.
Police were initially called to a report of an assault happening in the parking lot of a Smith’s grocery store, 845 E. 4500 South. Officers arrived to find Alexander “on top of the victim physically assaulting the victim,” said Unified Police Sgt. Melody Gray.
After taking Alexander into custody, detectives questioned him about what happened. He told them that he was “detaining” his victim — who is of Middle Eastern descent — “because he believed the victim was going to do an act of terrorism,” according to the affidavit.
When asked why he believed that, Alexander said “his actions were based off a ‘vibe,’” the affidavit states.
Police noted in a booking report that Alexander would be arrested for investigation of assault with a hate crime charge added “because there was no reasonable suspicion behind believing the victim was a terrorist.”
Alexander was in possession of methamphetamine when he was arrested, which he admitted recently using, according to the affidavit.
Thursday afternoon, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, called for hate crime charges to be filed against Alexander.
“Based on the reported statements made following this attack, local and state law enforcement authorities must consider bringing hate crime charges against the alleged assailant,” the council’s national communications director, Ibrahim Hooper, said in a prepared statement.
Alexander has a long criminal history, according to court records, including multiple drug-related convictions and has spent time in the Utah State Prison.
