'Horrible hate crime': Muslim men attacked at mall plan to sue alleged assailant, lawyer says

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Two Muslim men plan to sue the man who allegedly targeted them in an attack in July because of their religion.
Jim McConkie, their lawyer, says securing financial compensation for the men and raising public awareness about hate crimes are key aims.
The suspect faces two counts of attempted aggravated murder with potential hate crime penalty enhancements.

SALT LAKE CITY — The two Muslim men injured in a brutal attack in July at a West Valley City mall that local and federal prosecutors charge was a hate crime are planning to sue the suspect in the case and maybe others.

Jim McConkie, a Utah attorney who does legal work with the immigrant and refugee communities, said securing some sort of financial compensation for the two victims, Syed Sohail and Wajid Mohammed, would be part of the aim. But raising public consciousness about incidents like the July 13 attack is also important.

"This is a horrible hate crime, and we need to draw attention to how dangerous it is when people begin to disparage other people to the point where those on the fringes of our society are willing to take the lives of individuals who they fear because of the extreme rhetoric that's going around," McConkie said. Making sure public spaces are safe, like the mall where the incident occurred, is also a big objective.

Taylorsville man Peter Michael Larsen, 48, is charged in 3rd District Court with two counts of attempted aggravated murder for the attacks on Sohail, allegedly his principal target, and Mohammed, who came to Sohail's aid. Both men are Muslims originally from India, and Larsen potentially faces hate crime penalty enhancements if convicted.

Separately, a federal grand jury earlier this month charged Larsen with a count of violating federal hate crimes statutes for the attack on Sohail.

Larsen said he targeted Sohail because he is Muslim, according to the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office, stabbing him 28 times as he was working at a kiosk at Valley Fair Mall. He survived, but McConkie said he suffered a wound close to his heart, a punctured lung and serious wounds to one of his hands, among many other injuries.

"The assailant said he was doing it in the name of Jesus and he also indicated that his next victim would be ... Wajid, who had intervened," McConkie said. Mohammed's injuries were far less extensive, but he can't sleep, and his blood pressure has been hovering at dangerously high levels in the aftermath of the attack.

Records in 3rd District Court don't identify an attorney for Larsen. The two public defenders in Larsen's federal criminal case didn't immediately respond to a query Monday seeking comment, though they probably wouldn't represent him in a civil case, if McConkie and the two victims sue.

McConkie said he hopes to file the lawsuit sometime in September in state court.

Creating a safe community

Whether the suit includes other defendants aside from Larsen is a focus of the continuing investigation of the matter by McConkie and his legal team, he said.

At any rate, he said the ripple effects of the incident have been felt in Utah's broader Muslim community. "I have lots of contact with the mosques on various things, and this strikes fear. Whenever there is a hate crime, it strikes fear into a group of people that now feel vulnerable in our community," McConkie said.

Indeed, a leader in Utah's Muslim community has reached out to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, about creating a chapter here. Shuaib Din, imam of the Utah Islamic Center, told KSL in late July that an advocacy operation like CAIR is needed to defend the community's interests.

McConkie, at the same time, stressed the importance of openness.

"It's important that we have a community that's open, that's willing to befriend and help people in need, that are willing to accept differences and create a community where people feel comfortable and safe," he said.

The sort of suit McConkie envisions isn't common, he said, because assailants in such violent incidents typically don't have many assets. Larsen might have a home, he went on, but suing is also important "as a further acknowledgment of the wrong he's committed."

Sohail, still suffering pain from the wounds he sustained and unable to return to work, is married with two young children.

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