11 hours ago
Michigan man charged with hate crimes over threats to kill Muslims
Prosecutors say 79-year-old man threatened four Muslim men sharing Qurans outside a library while carrying a loaded pistol
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DETROIT (MNTV) — A 79-year-old Michigan man has been charged with four counts of aggravated hate crime after prosecutors said he threatened to kill four Muslim men outside a public library while carrying a loaded pistol.
Peter Hamilton Northup of Troy was charged Monday, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald announced; each count carries up to 10 years in prison.
According to the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI), the four men were peacefully distributing free English translations of the Quran and answering questions about Islam outside the Troy Public Library on Sept. 12 when Northup approached, asked whether they were Muslim, and — after they said yes — threatened to kill them.
“He came to us: ‘Hey guys, what are you doing here? Are you Muslim?’ And I told him ‘Yes, we are Muslim.’ Then he said, ‘I’m going to kill all of you,'” one of the men, Mohamed Khalil, recounted, saying Northup gestured to a pistol in his pocket.
Witnesses said he called Muslims terrorists and said he would kill Muslims across the country given the chance. Police arrested him and found a loaded pistol; McDonald said he has a concealed-carry license and 19 firearms registered to him, which were seized under an extreme-risk protection order.
“Islamophobia is never acceptable,” McDonald said. “There is never an excuse for hurting people because of who they are or what they believe.” McDonald said Northup, a retired optometrist with no criminal record, has dementia and a history of welfare checks over declining mental health; his family had raised concerns days earlier.
CAIR-MI director Dawud Walid said the case was part of a wave of anti-Muslim threats, adding: “We’re just thankful this incident in Troy didn’t end up like Utah or, even worse, San Diego” — a reference to a deadly mosque attack.
The group cited three death threats at its own office last month, and CAIR recorded 8,683 anti-Muslim complaints nationally in 2025, its highest since 1996.
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