TROY — In the latest act of Islamophobia in Metro Detroit, an elderly Troy resident faces four counts of aggravated hate crime after allegedly threatening to shoot and kill four Muslim men outside a public library last weekend.

According to local police, Peter Hamilton Northup, 79, was arrested while carrying a loaded pistol after the four men called authorities to report that they had been threatened Saturday outside the Troy Public Library on Big Beaver Road.

The victims were offering to discuss the Quran and Islam with passersby when the retired eye doctor allegedly told them that he “hates Muslims” and was carrying a gun.

According to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office, Northup was not lying about having a weapon. He was carrying a loaded pistol, while 19 additional firearms were later recovered from his home.

Prosecutors said Northup has dementia and no criminal record, but has a history of authorities conducting welfare checks related to his declining mental health. Despite this, he still possessed a concealed pistol license and had 22 firearms registered in his name.

Under an Extreme Risk Protection Order, Troy police seized all 19 firearms recovered from Northup’s home. Northup appeared Tuesday in Troy District Court, where he was charged with four counts of aggravated hate crime. Each count is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and/or a $15,000 fine.

“Islamophobia is never acceptable,” Oakland County Prosecutor Karen D. McDonald said. “The victims in this case were threatened simply for exercising their First Amendment rights. There is never an excuse for hurting people because of who they are or what they believe.”

“Troy police did the right thing by securing the defendant’s guns,” McDonald added, stressing that “the right to own firearms comes with an obligation to use them safely and responsibly.”

“This defendant’s mental health issues and alleged actions make clear that he should not have access to deadly weapons,” she said.

According to the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI), the four Muslim men were outside the Troy Public Library distributing free English translations of the Quran and answering questions about Islam.

“These men were peacefully exercising their constitutional rights, sharing information about their faith and answering questions from their neighbors, when they were allegedly targeted with an explicit death threat for one reason: Because they are Muslim,” CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid said in a statement.

“When an individual announces that he possesses a firearm, threatens to kill the four people standing in front of him and then declares his desire to kill Muslims across America because of their religion, the hate-based motive could not be clearer,” Walid added, calling on prosecutors to treat the serious incident firmly.

The statement said witnesses reported that Northup called Muslims terrorists and said he would kill every Muslim in the United States if he could.

WXYZ-TV Channel 7 spoke with Mohamed Khalil, one of the four men Northup allegedly threatened, about the moment the defendant approached them.

“He came to us and asked, ‘Hey, guys, what are you doing here? Are you Muslim?’” Khalil said. “I told him, ‘Yes, we are Muslim.’ Then he said, ‘I’m going to kill all of you.’”

Khalil said Northup motioned toward his back pocket, where his pistol was visible.

“When someone comes up to you and says he wants to kill you and he has a gun in his pocket, you have to recognize there’s a possibility of something serious happening,” said Javed Ashraf, another of the four men who were threatened.

Ashraf said the group immediately attempted to calm the situation and made the correct decision not to escalate it.

A continuing wave of Islamophobia

The Troy Public Library incident follows several other cases involving threats against Muslims in Michigan.

Last month, CAIR-MI officials said their Canton Township office received three death threats over three consecutive days shortly after anti-Muslim activist Jake Lang appeared in Dearborn.

Also in August, a federal grand jury in Alaska indicted a man accused of threatening to kill Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud because of his Muslim faith.

In June, authorities arrested a suspect accused of threatening to attack a mosque in Madison Heights. Criminal charges were filed against the suspect the following month.

According to CAIR’s annual civil rights report, released in March, the organization received 8,683 complaints involving discrimination and religious harassment nationwide during 2025. It was the highest annual number of complaints CAIR has recorded since the organization began tracking anti-Muslim discrimination in 1996.