Sikh Coalition Fresno, CA Sikh Man Beaten, Hospitalized In Potential Hate Crime

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Fresno, CA Sikh Man Beaten, Hospitalized in Potential Hate Crime

http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/1607/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=144889

82-Year-Old Man Severely Beaten with Iron Bar; Community Urged to Attend Meeting Tonight at Local Gurdwara

May 7, 2013 (Fremont, California) -- According to local media reports, Mr. Piara Singh, an 82 year-old Sikh man, was severely beaten on Sunday, May 5, 2013 with an iron bar outside of Gurdwara Nanaksar Sahib in Fresno, California. Mr. Singh sustained significant injuries, including head injuries, broken bones and ribs, and a collapsed lung. The suspect was apprehended at the scene of the crime and is currently in custody. Law enforcement is investigating the incident as a potential hate crime.


Click here to watch local TV news coverage of the assault
Click here to read an article in the Fresno Bee

Mr. Singh remains in the hospital in serious condition. The local Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Fresno Police Department will thoroughly investigate the attack and are convening a community meeting tonight at Gurdwara Nanaksar Sahib to provide an update on the incident. We urge community members in the area to attend and join the Sikh Coalition and the local sangat in providing support to Piara Singh and his family:

Community Meeting with Law Enforcement and Media
Time/Date: May 7, 2013, 5:30 PM PST
Gurdwara Nanaksar Sahib
3060 S. Cherry Avenue
Fresno, California 93706

The Sikh Coalition applauds Mr. Singh's family and the Fresno community for its immediate and comprehensive response to the attack. Within hours, the family and community engaged with media, law enforcement, the FBI and Department of Justice, and the Sikh Coalition. We remain in direct touch with the family, the local sangat, and law enforcement; pray for Mr. Singh’s full and speedy recovery; and will provide updates as the situation progresses.

As always, we urge all Sikhs to practice their faith fearlessly. If you or someone you know ever experiences violence or even a threat of violence, please report the incident to your local police department immediately by dialing 9-1-1.

 

[Inderjeet Kaur]

An arrest has been made in this very disturbing case.

And Gurdev Singh Muhar is not a priest.

http://www.ibtimes.com/elderly-sikh...l-california-fresno-police-arrest-one-1244253

Fresno police arrested a 29-year-old person in connection with a brutal attack on an 81-year-old Sikh man, on Sunday, with a steel rod outside a gurdwara (a temple for the Sikh community members) in central California.

REUTERS

The attack happened just after 07:00 a.m. local time on Sunday outside the Nanaksar Sikh Temple in southwest Fresno, as the victim, Piara Singh, was walking down the road, the Fresno Bee reported.

Gilbert Garcia, who has a record of arrests in the Fresno area, was arrested about 08:00 a.m. local time on Sunday in a rural neighborhood a half-mile away, police chief Jerry Dyer told Fresno Bee.

The victim was reportedly approached by a man in his late 20s or early 30s, who was riding a bicycle and armed with a steel rod. Without saying a word, the attacker beat Singh in the head and body.

Singh has been receiving treatment for head injuries, broken ribs and lung lacerations.

Temple officials say the attack was not a robbery and that Singh had never seen the man before.

“This is a hate crime,” Gurdev Singh Muhar, a priest of the Fresno gurdwara, was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India (PTI) in a report from Washington.

The incident in Fresno, which has a sizable Sikh population, came as a shock for the Sikh community in the U.S., as well as the Hindu-Americans and Arab-Americans.

In April last year, six people were shot dead in a rampage at a Sikh temple in suburban Milwaukee, while they were preparing for their traditional Sunday feast.

Police identified the gunman as Wade Michael Page, 40, an army veteran. Page committed suicide by shooting himself in the head after he was wounded in the stomach by police gunfire.

Sikhism, a monotheistic faith founded in South Asia, is the world's fifth largest religion with an estimated 200,000 to 500,000 adherents in the U.S, according to the Religion News Service (RNS).

Male Sikhs often keep their uncut hair bound up in a turban.

If Sunday’s attack is determined to be a hate crime, federal charges could be filed, Mark Cullers, chief of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Fresno was cited as saying by the Fresno Bee. That could be in addition to any state charges filed against the assailant, he said.

 

[spnadmin]

An arrest has been made in this very disturbing case.

And Gurdev Singh Muhar is not a priest.

http://www.ibtimes.com/elderly-sikh...l-california-fresno-police-arrest-one-1244253


Sikhism, a monotheistic faith founded in South Asia, is the world's fifth largest religion with an estimated 200,000 to 500,000 adherents in the U.S, according to the Religion News Service (RNS).

Yes, and there are more than 200,000 to 500,000 adherents in India alone. There are 25,000,000.