USA Attacker Of Elderly Sikh In US Pleads Not Guilty

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Attacker of elderly Sikh in US pleads not guilty


http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/attacker-of-elderly-sikh-in-us-pleads-not-guilty_851772.html


Washington: The transient accused of brutally attacking an 81-year-old Sikh man outside a gurdwara in the US May 5 has pleaded not guilty of attempted murder and elderly abuse.

Gilbert Garcia, 29, was arrested for brutally attacking Piara Singh with a steel rod outside the Nanaksar Sikh gurdwara on South Cherry Avenue, southwest Fresno, in central California around 7 am May 5.

The accused appeared before the Fresno County Superior Court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the charges, which the Fresno County District Attorney's Office described as a hate crime, the Fresno Bee reported.

Garcia, who was arrested around an hour after the attack that left Singh with broken ribs, lung lacerations and head wounds, has a record of arrests in the Fresno area.

Garcia is being held in lieu of a bail of $1.7 million and a hearing has been scheduled for June 26.

The newly-formed American Sikh Congressional Caucus is pushing the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to investigate the case as a hate crime.

IANS

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Garcia has been charged with a hate-crime

Hate crime alleged in Fresno Sikh beating case
The Associated Press

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_23355000/man-pleads-not-guilty-calif-attack-sikh-man

FRESNO, Calif.—Prosecutors say the beating of an 82-year-old Sikh man outside a Fresno Sikh temple was a hate crime.

The Fresno County district attorney said Thursday that a hate crime charge was added to the case against 29-year-old Gilbert Garcia Jr.

Garcia pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and elder abuse earlier this month.

Investigators say Garcia attacked Piara Singh with a pipe outside the Nanaksar Sikh Temple. Singh was hospitalized with head wounds, broken bones and ribs.

Civil rights groups say Sikh men—who wear beards and turbans as part of their faith—are sometimes mistaken for Muslims and targeted in bias-motivated attacks.

Garcia is in jail with bail set at nearly $1.7 million. He is scheduled to be in court on June 26th.