sikh
UNC apologizes to Sikh student handcuffed over article of faith that resembled weapon
- The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) has apologized after campus police placed a student in handcuffs for carrying a kirpan.
- A kirpan is a dagger that serves as one of the Sikh religion’s five articles of faith, which baptized followers must carry and maintain at all times.
- A Twitter user who claimed to be the student in question posted a video of his arrest, which has now gone viral with over 3.6 million views.
- In a joint statement, UNCC Chancellor Sharon apologized for the incident and vowed to use it as a learning opportunity by “engaging in constructive dialogue with Sikh students and employees.”
- However, the officials maintained that state law and university policy prohibit knives and other “edged instruments” on campus.
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) has apologized after campus police placed a Sikh student in handcuffs because he wore an article of faith that looked like a weapon.
The incident, which was caught in a now-viral video, occurred on Thursday after the police received a 911 call about someone carrying a “knife” inside the Student Union Building.
California parole board denies early release of El Sobrante Sikh temple shooter
- Joga Singh Sandher, the 58-year-old man who murdered Ajmer Singh Malhi inside a Sikh temple in 2000, was denied early parole by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Parole Board on Thursday.
- The panel found that if Sandher were to be released, the "danger he posed to the community was far higher" than the information he presented claiming he was not a risk.
- Sandher was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Malhi during a Sunday service inside the El Sobrante Gurdwara Sahib, a Sikh center in the San Francisco Bay Area, on Jan. 23, 2000.
- “Even in a world where mass shootings have become all too commonplace, Sandher’s actions in January 2000 still shock the conscience,” Deputy District Attorney Caleb Webster said on Thursday.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) Parole Board has denied the early release of Joga Singh Sandher, the 58-year-old man who murdered Ajmer Singh Malhi inside a Sikh temple in 2000.
The Board of Parole denied Sandher’s early parole at Thursday’s Parole Suitability Hearing after finding that if he were to be released, the “danger he posed to the community was far higher” than the information he presented claiming he was not a risk. The Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office said in a statement on Friday that Sandher had become ineligible for parole for 10 years.
3 men injured in Northern California Sikh temple shooting
- Three Sikh men have been hospitalized following a shooting at a Sikh temple in Stockton, California, on Aug. 27.
- Two male suspects, who are also believed to be Sikh, remain at large.
Three people have been hospitalized following a shooting at a Sikh temple in Northern California.
Three Sikh men — ages 27, 28 and 32 — were transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after a shooting occurred at the Sikh Gurdwara Sahib temple in Stockton at around 6:42 p.m. on Aug. 27, according to Stockton police spokesperson Joseph Silva.
Man acquitted in deadly 1985 Air India bombings fatally shot in suspected targeted attack in Canada
- Ripudaman Singh Malik, the man who was previously acquitted in the 1985 Air India bombings, was fatally shot in Surrey, British Columbia, in Canada on Thursday morning.
- Shortly after the attack, a vehicle that is believed to belong to the suspect was found engulfed in fire a few blocks away from the scene.
- The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) is currently investigating the death of Malik.
- Malik, a multi-millionaire businessman in British Columbia, became an influential member of British Columbia’s Sikh separatist movement.
- Along with co-accused Ajaib Singh Bagri, Malik was exonerated of murder and conspiracy charges in 2005 after being accused of the 1985 Air India terror attack that killed 331 people.
Ripudaman Singh Malik, the man who was acquitted in the 1985 Air India bombings, was fatally shot in Canada in what authorities are investigating as a targeted shooting.
Malik, 75, was reportedly in his red Tesla outside a business center in Surrey, British Columbia, when he was shot dead on Thursday morning.
Sikh family in Texas rattled after bullets fired into their home, suspicious vehicle caught on cam
- Iqbal Singh’s parents and child were asleep in their northwest Harris County home in Texas when bullets flew inches over their heads at 1:43 a.m. on July 5.
- The family heard nine shots coming from their backyard, which were captured on surveillance cameras.
- Singh found bullet holes through multiple windows and a bedroom’s headboard.
- Another family member noted a suspicious vehicle captured on their surveillance cameras at around 11 p.m., 12 a.m. and 1 a.m. before the shooting occured.
- The Harris County Sheriff’s Office previously probed the incident. The case has been transferred to investigators for a follow-up investigation.
A Sikh family in Texas was rattled after several bullets were fired into their northwest Harris County home.
Iqbal Singh’s parents and child were asleep in their home in the Heron Lakes Estates subdivision near Beltway 8 and Highway 249 when bullets flew inches over their heads at 1:43 a.m. on July 5.
Teen charged with Sikh hate crime attacks fatally stabbed in Brooklyn
- Vernon Douglas, the 19-year-old charged in two Sikh hate crime attacks in Queens, New York, was found stabbed to death on a Brooklyn street on Thursday.
- Investigators have not made an arrest nor publicly identified a suspect; however, police do not believe the suspect was looking to avenge the Sikh men he allegedly previously attacked.
- Douglas was previously charged with alleged hate crimes on April 16 for attacking three Sikh men in the same Queens neighborhood in a span of nine days.
- He allegedly punched Nirmal Singh, 70, in the face and broke his nose on April 3, and allegedly robbed and attacked two Sikh men with a wooden stick along with his accomplice Hezekiah Coleman on April 12. Both cases are still pending.
The teen charged in two Sikh hate crime attacks in Queens, New York, was found stabbed to death on a street in Brooklyn.
Vernon Douglas, 19, was found unconscious with a stab wound to the chest at 889 Rockaway Avenue just before 9 p.m. on Thursday, according to the New York Police Department.
Sikh man fatally shot ‘execution-style’ just outside his Queens home
- A Sikh man was shot dead a few steps away from his home in Queens, New York, on Saturday.
- Satnam Singh, 31, was reportedly sitting inside a black Jeep Wrangler Sahara near 129th St. and Sutter Ave. in South Ozone Park when someone approached and began firing rounds at around 3:45 p.m.
- Neighbors said the shooter was driving a silver-colored sedan, however police said the suspect approached the victim on foot.
- No arrests have been made as of Sunday.
A Sikh man was shot dead a few steps away from his home in Queens on Saturday, according to New York police.
Satnam Singh, 31, was reportedly sitting inside a black Jeep Wrangler Sahara near 129th St. and Sutter Ave. in South Ozone Park when someone approached and began firing rounds at around 3:45 p.m.
Sikh mother of 3 robbed at gunpoint after leaving temple in Queens
- A Sikh mother of three was threatened with a gun and robbed in broad daylight by a group of three people after leaving a temple in South Richmond, Queens.
- The suspects reportedly stole her family jewelry and threatened to kill her if she reported the incident to the police.
- “I have so much anxiety,” the woman told PIX11. “I don’t come out because now I feel if I’m going to come out, maybe they’re going to come again and kill me.”
- The incident, which is currently not considered a hate crime, is under investigation by the New York City Police Department. The suspects have yet to be arrested.
A Sikh mother of three was threatened with a gun and robbed after leaving a temple in Queens.
The mother was walking in her traditional Indian attire by 114 Street near 100 and 3rd Avenue in South Richmond, Queens, when a group of three people pulled up next to her in a black car on Tuesday.
63-year-old victim of violent robbery is latest in series of assaults against elderly Sikhs in Queens
- Kuldip Singh, a 63-year-old Sikh man, was violently beaten during his morning walk at around 10:30 a.m. in Richmond Hill, Queens, on May 8.
- He fought his attacker but was left with fractures in his right hand, a broken nose, lacerations to the head and bruises from being beaten with the suspect’s pistol.
- The incident, which is currently not considered a hate crime, is under investigation by the New York Police Department. The suspect has yet to be arrested.
- The attack occurred in the same neighborhood where three Sikh men were also targeted last month.
A Sikh man was reportedly attacked on Mother’s Day in the same Queens neighborhood in New York City where three Sikh men were assaulted last month.
In the latest in a string of attacks on Sikh men in Richmond Hill, Queens, Kuldip Singh was violently beaten during his morning walk at around 10:30 a.m. on May 8.
20-year-old man charged with hate crimes for attacks on 2 Sikh men in New York City
- Hezekiah Coleman has been arrested and charged for attacking and robbing two Sikh men in Queens on April 12.
- Coleman is charged with one count of robbery and one count of aggravated harassment as well as two counts of robbery and one count of assault classified as a hate crime.
- The attack occurred nine days after Nirmal Singh, a 70-year-old Sikh man, was brutally beaten in the same Queens neighborhood on April 3.
- The New York Police Department is still searching for the other suspects in both Sikh assaults.
One of the suspects who attacked and robbed two Sikh men in New York City’s Queens neighborhood has been arrested and charged with hate crimes.
Hezekiah Coleman, 20, was previously taken into custody as a person of interest following the Tuesday assault in Richmond Hill.
2 Sikh men assaulted and robbed days after another Sikh man punched in the same Queens neighborhood
- Two Sikh men, aged 76 and 64, went on a morning walk in Richmond Hill, Queens when two men approached and beat them with their fists and a stick on April 12.
- One suspect has been arrested while the other suspect is still at large.
- The New York Police Department (NYPD) are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.
- The assault happened near the area where Nirmal Singh, 70, was punched in the face while on his way to the Sikh Cultural Society at around 7 a.m. on April 3.
Two Sikh men were attacked and robbed in an alleged hate crime nine days after another Sikh man was punched in the same Queens neighborhood in New York City.
The 76-year-old and 64-year-old men went on a morning walk in Richmond Hill when two men approached and beat them with their fists and a stick on April 12.
Sikhs sue Marine Corps for the right to wear turbans and beards during overseas deployment, boot camp
- Capt. Sukhbir Singh Toor and three prospective Sikh U.S. Marine Corps recruits, Milaap Singh Chahal, Jaskirat Singh and Aekash Singh, sued the Marine Corps on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after they were told that they must remove their religious articles during overseas deployment and boot camp.
- The Marine Corps stated that “there can be no full religious accommodations for Marines because beards and religious articles offend the ‘uniformity’ that the Marine Corps claims is critical.” The Marine Corps also said that beards could interfere with the effectiveness of gas masks.
- Representatives of the Sikh men argued that the Marine Corps changed its shaving policy in January to allow service members with medical conditions to forgo the rule.
- The men’s attorneys also pointed out that other military branches, such as the Army and the Air Force, do not have restrictions that target religious articles.
- “I have proven my commitment to the Corps through my four years of service, and I’m ready to deploy just like any other service member,” Toor said in a statement. “I can’t do that, however, as long as I’m left on the bench because of my religious beliefs.”
A U.S. Marine Corps captain and three prospective Sikh recruits are suing the Marine Corps after being told not to don religious articles during boot camp and overseas deployment.
Capt. Sukhbir Singh Toor, who currently serves as Battalion Fire Direction Officer for 3rd Battalion, 11th Marines at Twentynine Palms, California, joined the Marine Corps in 2017 and had to make “the extremely difficult decision to shave his beard and cut his hair.” The 27-year-old was permitted to keep his turban, long hair and beard after filing a request in March 2021.
