One of the two attackers arrested.
A Muslim man was stabbed close to a mosque where he worshipped, in Simi Valley, California, on Saturday evening. A man has been arrested for the attack, and police are also looking for a second suspect who allegedly committed the knife attack.
ABC7 News reported the man who has been arrested had also confronted other worshippers leaving the mosque.
Simi Valley police said they responded to the rear of a shopping center in the 1800 block of Erringer Road at about 11:15 p.m. Officers arrived at the scene and separated a group of people who were fighting.
Police say the suspect, later identified as John Matteson, 29, of Simi Valley, as well as a second man confronted some worshippers who had left a local mosque and were walking on the sidewalk.
A verbal argument began and it turned into a fight during which Matteson allegedly stabbed a man. There were numerous witnesses to the incident and police arrested Matteson near the scene.
Police say it appears from alleged statements and actions by the suspect that the victim was targeted because of his religious background.
“We’re looking into perhaps the way our victim was dressed and his association with the local mosque,” said Simi Valley police Sgt. Adam Darough.
The Los Angeles Times reported that authorities initially said Matteson was suspected of carrying out the attack. On Monday, however, police said that Matteson was involved in the fight but that another unidentified man committed the stabbing.
Jail records show that Matteson’s bail was set at $25,000. He was booked on suspicion of making felony criminal threats, performing a felony violation of civil rights and disturbing the peace by fighting, the records show.
Matteson is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday, according to jail records. It’s unclear if he was being represented by an attorney.
The Simi Valley Police Department has investigated a man with the same name and birth date as Matteson in connection with several incidents in recent years, according to Ventura County Superior Court records.
He pleaded no contest in October to disturbing the peace by loud noise, an infraction. In July, Matteson pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of public intoxication from a June 30 incident, according to court records. He also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of disturbing the peace stemming from a Nov. 9, 2015, incident.
Last year, he also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of making terrorist threats.
Authorities did not provide additional details about the victim. They said he was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and is in stable condition, reported the Los Angeles Times.
Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Sunday that he had spoken with several Muslims in Simi Valley and that they were “heartbroken.”
Members of the community told Ayloush that the stabbing had occurred near a “prayer area” where locals had gathered — but he said he did not know the exact address or type of building where the gathering took place.
Since election day, CAIR has received almost 200 reports of hate incidents directed at Muslims in America, Ayloush said.
“It’s hard to believe that in this day and age we still have to deal with such hate and violence in our country, and especially in a place as diverse as Southern California,” Ayloush said.
The stabbing comes amid a national surge in anti-Muslim crimes, which jumped 67% in 2015, according to FBI statistics.
Researchers at Cal State San Bernardino have said the rise in anti-Muslim crimes accelerated after the San Bernardino terror attack in December 2015 and was fanned by Donald Trump’s call to bar Muslims from entering the United States during his successful campaign for the presidency.
In recent weeks, mosques across California have received letters threatening genocide and referring to Muslims as “vile and filthy people.”