Sikhs want probe into FedEx shooting to look into racism as a possible motive

SCREEN CAPTURE / BBC

Members of Indianapolis' Sikh community pray for the victims.

The motive for the FedEx shooter are still unknown but Sikhs are calling for an investigation into  "the possibility of bias as (a) factor."

Four of the eight fatalities of the Thursday rampage were identified as Sikhs. Their deaths come amid a year-long surge in hate violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. It also comes just weeks after a shooter killed eight people in Georgia, six of whom were Asian women. 

“We extend our deepest condolences to the victims of this horrific violence,” said Satjeet Kaur, Sikh Coalition Executive Director. “While we don’t yet know the motive of the shooter, he targeted a facility known to be heavily populated by Sikh employees, and the attack is traumatic for our community as we continue to face senseless violence." 

A joint letter from the eight Sikh houses of worship in the Indianapolis area said:

"We do not yet know the motive of the shooter, and we may never know for sure what drove him to do what he did. We do know, however, that the FedEx facility he targeted was well known for having a large Sikh workforce. Given everything our community has experienced in the past -- the pattern of violence, bigotry, and backlash we have faced -- it is impossible not to feel that same pain and targeting in this moment. We expect that the authorities will continue their full investigation and share what they learn when they can, and they will take this into account."

The victims of the shooting as Matthew R. Alexander, 32, Samaria Backwell, 19, Amarjeet Johal, 66, Jaswinder Kaur, 64, Jaswinder Singh, 68, Amarjit Sekhon, 48, Karlie Smith, 19, and John Weisert, 74.

The alleged shooter was identified as 19-year-old Brandon Hole, who reportedly died by shooting himself. He was a former employee at the FedEx facility and last worked there in 2020, according to police.

There are  8,000 to 10,000 Sikh Americans living in Indiana, said Kaur.

After 9/11, Sikhs were often victims of hate violence from racists who believed they were Muslim. Six people were killed and three others were wounded on Sunday at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, WI.

Komal Chohan, the granddaughter of one of the FedEx victims, Amarjeet Kaur Johal, said,  “Enough is enough. Our community has been through enough trauma.”