Man asks clerk if he is ‘Christian, or Muslim?’ then dumps gas in store, MI cops say
With a lit cigarette in his mouth and a can of gasoline in hand, a 28-year-old man walked into a gas station and confronted a clerk, Michigan police said.
“Hey man – where your Quran at? Whose side you on? Christian, or Muslim?” the man asked the clerk on Nov. 22, according to a news release from the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office.
The man, identified as Noah Syl Johnson, then walked around the convenience store in Pontiac, dousing the shelves and products in gasoline, according to prosecutors.
“This was an extremely dangerous situation for everyone in that store, and threats based on religion or race have a much wider impact on entire communities,” county Prosecutor Karen McDonald said.
The man was later found by police walking around the area with the gas can still in his hand, officials said. When approached, he pulled out a “large kitchen knife” and tried to flee from officers, according to the news release. He was eventually arrested and taken to jail.
Johnson is charged with making a threat of terrorism, arson, ethnic intimidation, and resisting a police officer, prosecutors said. His bond was set at $50,000.
If convicted, he could face decades in prison, prosecutors said.
Pontiac is about a 30-mile drive northwest from downtown Detroit.
This story was originally published November 26, 2024 at 1:33 PM with the headline "Man asks clerk if he is ‘Christian, or Muslim?’ then dumps gas in store, MI cops say."
