Sky Hawk Times

Vicious Turbanphobia hate crime continues in Richmond, CA

Sky Hawk Times

New York, October 12, 2016

The American Sikh Council appeals to every Sikh American and other minorities need to do is carry body cameras to record their everyday lives as a hate crime deterrent. Every turbaned Sikh in America can relate to bullying, bias and religious bigotry from the school hallways to Main Street. The only difference is the level of bias varies from person to person throughout their lives. These kind of life changing violent assaults directly impinge on the fundamental article in our ‘constitution’ and makes a mockery of that freedom allowed for every citizen to practice their faith in peace.

Sikh American Maan Singh Khalsa, 41, an IT professional and a peace loving family man was savagely attacked by a bunch of white goons targeting Khalsa’s religious beliefs and ethnicity. Khalsa wears a turban and maintains his uncut hair and beard as part of his religious attire as mandated by his Faith. S. Inderpreet Singh, Media and Public relations coordinaqtor of the American Sikh Council told Sky Hawk Times that “On September 25, Khalsa, was driving home and while stopped at a red light in Richmond, close to his home, a man in a white Ford F-150, which was occupied by at least five other men, purportedly threw a beer can at his car. The usual profanity laden obscenities’ were hurled at Khalsa. The men go out of the truck and walked toward Khalsa, who then drove out of the intersection just as the light turned green. Khalsa called 911 to report the attack. But his window was still partially rolled down. At the next red light, the men got out of the truck and attacked him through the window. The men knocked off his turban, hit his face several times, pulled his head out of the window and cut his hair”.

This incidence is also reported by the LA Times. Two out of the five white assailants, Dustin Albarado, 25, of Ponchatoula, LA., and Chase Little, 31, of Beaumont, TX, were arrested after the attack, according to Richmond Police Lt. Felix Tan.Apparently the district attorney’s office is still investigating Khalsa’s case, and no charges have been filed against men so far. Deputy Dist. Atty. Simon O’Connell said, “The Richmond Police Department is following leads regarding [additional] participants, who witnessed events and/or were directly involved.”

Hate crimes against Sikh Americans have averaged at least one a month across the nation since the start of the election season last year; from verbal assaults to outright murder. Enough is enough! This type of bigotry must stop immediately and the American Sikh Council appeals to all religious organizations of any/all faiths to stand in solidarity to stop all hate crimes against anyone.


“Although Mr. Khalsa explained that he believed his attackers were motivated by bias, the officers appeared dubious,” the Sikh Coalition wrote in its letter. Khalsa, who is a U.S. citizen, has been living with his family in Contra Costa County for seven years. He works as an Information technology specialist for the Social Security Administration as a well as a certified caregiver for the elderly.

The American Sikh Council appeals to the good conscience of the upholders of the law and requests that they do not make a mockery of common sense and delay proper justice by questioning whether this venomous hate crime was a hate crime at all, rather pursue this case diligently so that millions of minorities do not lose faith in America’s great justice system.

The American Sikh Council is a National level umbrella organization representative of Sikhs in the United States. It is an elected body of Sikh Gurdwaras and institutions. Currently 71 Gurdwaras and other Sikh institutions across the nation are members of ASC. The major governing purpose of the organization is to represent the collective view of Sikhs in the United States. ASC works to promote Sikh interests at the national and international level focusing on issues of advocacy, education, and well-being of humankind.