FBI to Investigate if Detroit Bus Stop Stabbing was a Hate Crime

FBI has taken up investigation into the Detroit bus stop stabbing case to determine whether the incident, in which a man was stabbed five times by a knife-wielding assailant, was a hate crime.

The victim was waiting at the suburban Detroit bus stop when he and another man were approached by the assailant identified as Terrence Lavaron Thomas, a Muslim convert.

Thomas asked them,"Are you Muslims?" and when they replied in the negative, he stabbed one of them five times in the chest, and the other on his hand, according to a report from the Detroit Free Press.

Both the men were treated at the hospital and sent home after their condition turned stable.

The alleged attack happened at 10:30 pm on Saturday in Southfield, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. Terrence Lavaron Thomas was arrested shortly after the attack. The police found two knives and some marijuana on the assailant. Thomas reportedly told the police that he was a Muslim.

Thomas has been charged with two counts of assault with intent to murder, one count of carrying a dangerous weapon and one count of possession of a controlled substance. His bail has been set for $1 million.

The Detroit bus stop stabbing incident comes just a week after a man in North Carolina shot three Muslims in what is being perceived as a hate crime. FBI is investigating that case well to determine if it was indeed a hate crime.