KABC-TV(SIMI VALLEY, Calif.) — A man has been arrested on suspicion of committing a hate crime after allegedly stabbing someone near a mosque in Simi Valley, California.
Simi Valley Police said the suspect, 29-year-old John Matteson, and a second man confronted worshipers who had left the mosque after services on Saturday night, according to ABC affiliate KABC-TV.
After a verbal argument escalated into a physical fight, a person was stabbed in the abdomen and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, officials said according to KABC-TV.
Police said witness accounts of the alleged statements by Matteson led to the hate crime charge.
“We’re looking into perhaps the way our victim was dressed and his association with the local mosque,” Simi Valley Police Sgt. Adam Darough told KABC-TV.
Authorities on Sunday night were still looking for a second suspect, who police said fled on foot.
“We are going to do our best to protect everybody at every religious installation in the city,” Darough said to KABC-TV. “The United States of America guarantees a right to freedom of religion we’re going to make sure everybody is safe in their churches.”
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