Texas man charged with hate crime for burning mosque

SCREEN CAPTURE

The Islamic Center in Victoria, Texas was completely destroyed by the alleged arsonist.

A FEDERAL GRAND JURY in Victoria, Texas, has returned a three-count superseding indictment against Marq Vincent Perez, 25, for allegedly burning down the Victoria Islamic Center on Jan. 28, 2017.

I'm not sure why they had to have a grand jury to figure out torching a mosque was a hate crime, but maybe Texans just want to make doubly sure.

Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez made the announcement along with a bevy of local and federal law enforcement agencies Thursday, June 22.

"Intentionally defacing, damaging or destroy a house of worship, such as the mosque here, is a federal crime," said Martinez. "Such crimes will not be tolerated."

Perez was previously indicted for possession of an unregistered destructive device for an incident that occurred on Jan. 15, 2017. The superseding indictment returned today, June 23, now charges him with a hate crime – damage to a religious property as well as use of a fire to commit a federal felony in relation to the arson at the mosque.

Perez was initially arrested and charged March 3, 2017, in connection with an attempt to blow up a car with a destructive device. At a detention hearing held the following week, court heard evidence linking Perez to a Jan. 22, 2017, burglary of the Victoria Islamic Center as well as a Jan. 28, 2017, burglary and arson of the same mosque. Perez is in custody pending further criminal proceedings. 

RELATED:

• Texas mosque burned down
• Trump inspires hate, says report

If convicted, Perez faces up to 20 years in federal prison for the hate crime. He also faces up to 10 years for possessing an unregistered destructive device. If convicted of use of a fire to commit a felony, the penalty is a consecutive and mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison. All of the counts also carry a potential $250,000 penalty.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.

ATF and FBI conducted the investigation along with the City of Victoria Fire Marshal’s Office, Victoria Fire Department, Victoria Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety - Criminal Investigations Division and Texas Rangers with assistance of Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office and sheriff’s offices in Victoria and Nueces Counties. 

Martinez said his district, the southern District of Texas, which includes the city of Houston and Brownsville, has the second largest Islamic population in the U.S., second only to Lansing, Michigan.

The alleged hate crime occurred a week after Donald Trump was installed as President and was cited by media as an example of the growing Islamaphobia in the country. Trump critics claim the rise in anti-Muslim acts are due to the anti-Muslim rhetoric employed by Trump and his campaign.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sharad S. Khandelwal and Kate Suh are prosecuting the case along with Trial Attorney Saeed Mody of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.

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Sikh American had a unique way to fight hate

SCREEN CAPTURE/YOUTUBE

Angad Singh in New York City's Times Square.

IN THIS Trump-inspired era of hate, haters gonna hate. But what's the rest of us going to do?

One man, Angad Singh, took to the public square - Times Square to be clear - to educate others because of the killing of Timothy Caughman, an African/American. The murder suspect was a white man, charged with committing an act of terrorism in Caughman’s fatal stabbing., 

"The only way we can tackle hate is by actively challenging the ignorance that surrounds us," said Singh.

"But I'm not scared to do so because for me, putting my turban on is the most American thing I can do."

On March 20, Caughman was stabbed to death with a sword by a 28-year-old white U.S. Army veteran James Jackson. Jackson was charged with second degree murder as a hate crime but the charges were later upgraded to an act of terrorism. He told police that he considered the killing to be "practice prior to going to Times Square to kill additional black men," according to the complaint.

Singh posted a video of him putting on his turban, a simple, but significant, action. The video went viral when it was posted about a month ago, but I thought I'd share.

Another 'Go-back-to-your-own-country" attack

Members of the Sikh community and other religious leaders stand behind police chief Ken Thomas during a press conference in Kent, Washington addressing the shooting of a Sikh/American man.

ASAM NEWS

A 39-YEAR-OLD SIKH/AMERICAN MAN was in his driveway in Kent, Wash., on Friday (March 3) when he was confronted by a masked man who told him, “Go back to your own country,” before shooting him in the arm, reports the Washington Post.

The victim has been identified as U.S. national Deep Rai by Indian officials in New Delhi, reports Times of India. Rai was working on his vehicle in his driveway when a stocky 6-foot-tall White male wearing a mask walked up to him with a gun, told him “Go back to your own country,” and shot him in the arm.

Authorities are investigating the incident as a suspected hate crime, and Kent police are still searching for the gunman. Rai sustained “non life-threatening injuries,” according to Kent Police Chief Ken Thomas. However, Kent police still intend to treat this as a “very serious incident” and have reached out to the FBI and other law enforcement agencies.

“With recent unrest and concern throughout the nation this can get people emotionally involved, especially when (the crime) is directed at a person for how they live, how they look,” said Kent Police Commander Jarod Kasner, who noted the attention the incident is getting from the Sikh community.

An Indian government official said the government was ready to offer all possible assistance to Rai. In addition, the official said that the Consulate General of India in San Francisco is in contact with local authorities who are ascertaining the nature of the crime.

This is yet another case among many within the past several months where South Asians in the U.S. have been victims of apparent hate crimes. Last month, 32-year-old Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla was shot and killed in a Kansas bar, after 51-year-old US Navy veteran Adam Purinton yelled “get out of my country” and opened fire at him and his friend Alok Madasani.

RELATED:

• Suspected Hate Crimes have both Indian Americans and Muslims on Edge
• FBI Labels Kansas Shooting a Hate Crime; Trump (finally) Denounces Attack 
• Trump inspires hate groups, says SPLC report

Earlier this week, 43-year-old Indian-origin store owner Harnish Patel was found dead from gunshot wounds in his front yard in Lancaster County, South Carolina. However, Patel’s ethnicity may not have played a role in the incident. “I don’t have any reason to believe that this was racially motivated,” said Sheriff Barry Faile.

Last week, two Indian/American men were shot after their attacker shouted, "Go back to your country," killing Srinivas Kuchobhotla.  That incident in Kansas is being investigated by the FBI as a hate crime.

Rai has apparently been released from the hospital, according to what Jasmit Singh, a leader of the Sikh community in Renton, has been told. “We’re all kind of at a loss in terms of what’s going on right now, this is just bringing it home,” he said. 

“The climate of hate that has been created doesn’t distinguish between anyone.” He also said that men from his community have reported a rise in incidents of verbal abuse.

In response to the tense atmosphere of the times, rights groups and ethnic Indian organizations have been reaching out to the community asking them to immediately report any incidents of hate crime or violence to law enforcement authorities. (Updated by Views From the Edge)

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Two men from India shot in apparent hate attack; one killed

Shooting victims Alok Madasani, left, and Srinivas Kuchibhotia.

TWO ENGINEERS from India were shot in a Kansas bar Wednesday night (Feb. 22) after a man who mistook them as Middle Eastern, allegedly told them to "get out of my country."

One man died, the second man was wounded and a third bar patron was wounded when he confronted the suspected shooter, Adam W. Purinton, 51

The body of the man who was slain, Srinivas Kuchibhotia, will be transported to the city of Hyderabad, India, where his family lives, said Sushma Swararaj, India's external affairs minister.

Alok Madasani, 32, of Overland Park, was treated for his wounds and released from the hospital. Another bar patron, 24-year-old Ian Grillot, remained in the hospital while he recovers.

The two men from India were both engineers on the aviation systems team at the technology company Garmin.

According to witnesses, Madasani and Kuchibhotia were drinking in Austins Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kansas, when Puritan began harassing them. Puriton's actions were so bad that he reportedly was kicked out of the bar. Upon his return he opened fire. 

Purinton fled the bar but appeared at another bar In Clinton, Mo. later in the evening. He asked the bartender for a place to hide because he had just shot two Middle Eastern men. The bartender called police and Purinton was arrested.

Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe announced in a press conference Thursday that Purinton will be charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

He was joined by federal law enforcement officials who said that they are investigating in conjunction with Olathe police to determine if the shooting was a bias-motivated hate crime in violation of the victims’ civil rights.

A GoFundMe page set up for the victims identified the man who was killed as Srinivas Kuchibhotla. According to the page, which was set up by a friend, the shooter had been drunk and "hurling racial slurs" before the attack. By Friday (Feb. 24) morning, the page had raised $260,000

"Srini was the kindest person you would meet, full of love, care and compassion for everyone," the page reads. "He never uttered a word of hatred, a simple gossip, or a careless comment. He was brilliant, well-mannered and simply an outstanding human being. His wife, Sunayana, and his family are now faced with incredible grief and a multitude of expenses."

The Kansas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations on Thursday called for prosecutors to file hate crime charges against Purinton at both the state and federal level.

“Because of the alleged bias motive for this deadly attack, we urge state and federal law enforcement authorities to consider filing hate crime charges in order to send a strong message that violence targeting religious or ethnic minorities will not be tolerated,” said CAIR-Kansas Board Chair Moussa Elbayoumy.

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Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe announced the charges against Purinton during a press conference at Olathe police headquarters.

He was joined by federal law enforcement officials who said that they are investigating in conjunction with Olathe police to determine if the shooting was a bias-motivated hate crime in violation of the victims’ civil rights.

At least one witness reportedly heard the man yell “get out of my country” shortly before shooting Kuchibhotla and Madasani. The man fled on foot. A manhunt ensued. Five hours later, Purinton reportedly told a bartender at a bar in an Applebee’s in Clinton, Mo., that he needed a place to hide out because he had just killed two Middle Eastern men, The Star has learned.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article134459444.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article134459444.html#storylink=cpy

Muslim Americans ask to meet with Trump

NYPD photo

NYPD Officer Aml Elsokary, who was wearing a hijab and was off-duty with her 16-year-old son, was harassed and threatened in Brooklyn.on

ASAM NEWS
A MUSLIM POLICE HERO with the New York Police Department who saved a baby from a burning building two years ago is asking for a meeting with President-elect Trump.

Yahoo reports the request was inspired after that officer, Aml Elsokary, witnessed her son being shoved by a man who later threatened to cut off her throat, told her to go back to her country, and called her a terrorist.

Elsokary was off duty at the time.

There are about 1,000 Muslims in the NYPD. The incident prompted a meeting with the NYPD Muslim Officers Society which wrote a letter to Trump requesting a meeting.

The NYPD says there has been a 115 percent spike in hate crimes since the election. Many have pointed to the incendiary rhetoric of Trump during the campaign and white supremacist groups have openly stated their alt-right movement has gained legitimacy due to Trump’s victory. 

The President-elect, when asked by the media, has told his supporters to stop, but he has been more outspoken about the way he is portrayed in comedy sketches on Saturday Night Live than he has about hate crimes.

“President-elect Trump needs to hear from and respond to the concerns of Officer Elsokary and other Muslim members of our law enforcement community,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. 

“They are not only the first line of defense on our streets; they are ambassadors of the American diversity that they represent, and millions of their brother and sister citizens are as concerned about their welfare as they are their own. Whether or not we have an invitation to Trump Tower, I promise that their message will be directly delivered.

Last week, almost 300 Muslim leaders released an open letter to Trump expressing their "serious concerns" about his policy proposals and calling on him to protect their communities.

The letter includes American Muslims at the forefront of community service, education and empowerment in diverse settings such as the academy, mosques, advocacy, and civic and interfaith engagement.

Prominent signatories include Nihad Awad of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Khizr Khan (the Gold Star father who spoke passionately in defense of the Constitution at the Democratic National Convention), Dalia Mogahed (Author of "Who Speaks for Islam?"), Imam Suhaib Webb (CenterDC) and Husain Abdullah, a former NFL player for the Minnesota Vikings and Kansas City Chiefs.

The letter states in part:

“Like other Americans, we love our country and are committed to preserving religious freedom, equal opportunity and equal protection under the law for all. As our President-Elect, one of your duties is to ensure our collective safety and security. This includes protecting the First Amendment rights of all Americans to freely practice their faith, without fear, intimidation or reprisal. . .

“Your recent denunciation of such behavior on 60 Minutes was a positive first step, and we urge you to clearly and strongly condemn bigotry, hate crimes and bias-based school bullying directed at any American, including American Muslims. We call on you to make mutual respect and acceptance a hallmark of your presidency."

The Department of Justice revealed that Attorney General Loretta Lynch will be visiting the All Dulles Area Muslim Society Center in Sterling on (Dec. 12) Monday morning.

In a video statement issued last month, Lynch said the spike in hate crimes and the new numbers should be "deeply sobering for all Americans." She said some of the acts have happened in schools and others have targeted houses of worship.

"We will continue to enforce our nation's hate crimes laws to the fullest extent possible," Lynch said. "We will continue to uphold our conviction that all men and women deserve to lead lives of safety and dignity. And we will continue to champion the values of diversity and inclusion that have always been the bedrock of our nation's progress, and that point the way to a brighter future.

Since the Nov. 8 elections, there has been a spike in anti-Muslim attacks, reports the Southern Poverty Law Center, which keeps track of hate crimes.

Most recently, the Oklahoma chapter of the CAIR-OK on Dec. 9 called on the FBI to join a hate crime investigation of a dead pig being dumped at an Islamic center in that state. (NOTE: Muslims are prohibited from consuming pork products and bigots often use pigs or pork to offend Muslim sensibilities.)

Police say the pig was dumped at the Islamic Center of Lawton in Lawton, Okla., Dec. 7. Surveillance video shows a pick-up truck pulling into the parking lot of the center and turning around. The truck backs up and the pig’s carcass falls off the tailgate. The vehicle then drives away.

Earlier this week, police reported that a uniformed MTA officer - who wears and Islamic head scarf (hijab) – was assaulted by a man who yelled “You’re a terrorist and you shouldn’t be working for the city.” The alleged attacker, reportedly shoved the MTA employee down a flight of stairs, injuring her knee and ankle. The NYPD and New York State Division of Human Rights are investigating the attack as a bias incident.

There has not been a response from Donald Trump or his anyone in his transition team to the requests for a meeting with Muslim/Americans.
(Views From the Edge contributed to this report)

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Hate crimes vs. Muslims spike, say FBI report; Trump appointment of Bannon draws protests

After Donald Trumps victory over Hillary Clinton, protestors took to the streets.

By Louis Chan
REPRINTED FROM ASAM NEWS

A NEW report from the FBI shows 21 percent of the 1263 religious hate crime victims in 2015 were Muslim.

According to ABC News, that’s an increase of 67 percent. 

The FBI report was release right after a contentious political campaign fueled by hateful rhetoric that has ignited a backlash nationwide. President-elect Donald Trump was accused of fueling xenophobia and Islamophobia, using words some encouraging some people to carry out hateful crimes.
The news came out on one day after President-elect Donald Trump appointed Steve Bannon, editor of the pro-alt.right website Breitbart, as chief strategist of the White House.

“The appointment of Stephen Bannon as a top Trump administration strategist sends the disturbing message that anti-Muslim conspiracy theories and white nationalist ideology will be welcome in the White House,” said Nihad Awad, Council of American Islamic Relation’s national executive director. “We urge President-elect Trump to reconsider this ill-advised appointment if he truly seeks to unite Americans.”

The news was also condemned by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

In San Francisco, Mayor Ed Lee held a rally at City Hall vowing to protect all citizens of San Francisco. “We stand united and we will protect all immigrant families in this city,” he said to a cheering crowd.

In a Tweet, Lee said: “Being a sanctuary city is in our DNA. San Francisco will never be anything other than a sanctuary city.”

Trump told 60 Minutes he will deport 2-3 million undocumented immigrants targeting those convicted of crimes.

Immigrant activists question whether there are really that many undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes. According to a 2015 study from the Migration Policy Institute, that number is closer to 300,000.

“This is classic Trump talk on immigration,” said said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice. “He’s using a small number of bad guys to taint a much larger population of deeply rooted families, and he’s doing it to justify one of the largest forced migrations in American history.” - Views From the Edge contributed to this report.

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REPORT: Political hate rhetoric catalyst for the rise in anti-Muslim/American acts

"BEING MUSLIM/AMERICAN already carries a decent amount of baggage.," writes actor Aziz Ansari in a New York Times oped published over the weekend. "In our culture, when people think 'Muslim,' the picture in their heads is not usually of the Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or the kid who left the boy band One Direction. It’s of a scary terrorist character from Homeland or some monster from the news."

His fears are justified. A report from the UC Berkeley Center for Race & Gender done in collaboration with The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)  was released last week. Entitled Confronting Fear: Islamophobia and its Impact in the United States, reports the increase in hate crimes against Muslims or people mistaken as Muslims.

The last two months of 2015 saw 34 incidents in which mosques were targeted by vandals or those who want to intimidate worshippers. This is more incidents than usually recorded in an entire year.

Aziz Ansari

Islamophobia has unfortunately moved from the fringes of American society to the mainstream. Contenders for the office of the presidency have suggested un-constitutional policies such as banning all Muslims from the United States or suggesting that a Muslims could not be president of the United States. Elected officials in 10 states have enacted legislation designed to vilify or otherwise target Islam. In at least two states, the way school text books are selected was changed because some activists wrongly believe that introductory religious courses that teach children Islam’s five pillars are “indoctrination” and “proselytization.”

The last two months of 2015 saw 34 incidents in which mosques were targeted by vandals or those who want to intimidate worshippers. This is more incidents than we usually record in an entire year.

The strategy outlined in this report is an evolution from the opposition-centric strategy CAIR’s Department to Monitor and Combat Islamophobia has pursued since we published Legislating Fear in 2012. The proposed strategy focuses instead on changing the environment.

Islamophobic groups have enjoyed access to at least $205 million to spread fear and hatred of Muslims, says the report. Inner-core groups, which have a primary purpose to promote prejudice against or hatred of Islam and Muslims, have seen an increase in total revenue from $42,692,945 in 2008 to $205,838,077 in 2013.

“The hate that these groups are funding and inciting is having real consequences like attacks on mosques all over the country and new laws discriminating against Muslims in America,” Corey Saylor, author of the report and director of CAIR’s department to monitor and combat Islamophobia, said in a statement.

He also said politics has played in a role in perpetuating the prejudice, including the rhetoric of the current U.S. presidential race.

“The 2016 presidential election has mainstreamed Islamophobia and resulted in a number of un-constitutional proposals targeting Muslims,” he said.“’Confronting Fear’ offers a plan for moving anti-Muslim bias back to the fringes of society where it belongs.”

The study examines two overlapping time periods: January 2015 through December 2015 and March 2015 through March 2016 (the 2016 presidential election season). It found approximately 180 reported incidents of anti-Muslim violence: 12 murders; 34 physical assaults; 49 verbal assaults or threats against persons and institutions; 56 acts of vandalism.

Confronting Fear acknowledges that acts of violence committed in the name of Islam “have undoubtedly contributed to negative public perceptions of Islam and Muslims in the United States.”

However it states that Islam and Muslims “are more likely to be held collectively responsible for the actions of an aberrant few.”

A goal of the report is to promote societal rejection of Islamophobia, as attrition in the acceptability of this form of prejudice would bring about change. It notes that societal rejection of the hate group Ku Klux Klan and its message resulted in less public support, visibility and impact.

“Islamophobia and groups that promote bias will likely always exist,” Nihad Awad, executive director of CAIR, said in a statement. “But the current environment that grants anti-Islam prejudice social acceptability must change so that such bias is in the same social dustbin as white supremacism and anti-Semitism.”

"Today, with the presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and others like him spewing hate speech, prejudice is reaching new levels. It’s visceral, and scary, and it affects how people live, work and pray," writes Ansari, a comedian and actor, whose TV series Master of None received accolades for its depiction of people of color. "It makes me afraid for my family. It also makes no sense."

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For more news about Asian/Americans & Pacific Islanders, read AsAm News

Hate crimes triple against Muslim/Americans since November Paris attack

Mosques in America have been targeted by bigots.

THE MUSLIM MEN had just finished praying at a public park in Castro Valley, Ca. when a woman began verbally attacking them.

One of the men tried to explain to Denise A. Sla that they were simply praying, something they were not doing anything wrong.  She continued to rant at the men. Rasheed Albeshari began using his cellphone to tape the confrontation and the woman threw here coffee at him.

This is the first step toward justice," Albeshari said after learning that two misdemeanor charges of battery on park property and violation of civil rights -- the latter considered a hate crime -- were filed against Slader.

The incident was another hate crime added to the growing number hate crimes against Muslim Americans. Since the Paris attacks earlier his year, attacks against Muslim Americans have tripled. The shootings in San Bernardino have added fuel to the fire. 

"We’re seeing so many of these things happening that it’s unbelievable,” said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on Islamic-American Relations, said today (Dec. 18). “It’s off the chart -- and I don’t think we’ve seen the end of it.”

The recent GOP debate among the presidential candidates may have fueled mare stupidity among the ignorant. The debate focused on foreign terrorism, forgetting completely the terrorism spurred by American terrorists (except for San Bernardino).

In addition, CAIR reports, there have been 29 incidents where mosques have been vandalized or torched.

"The terrorist attacks, coupled with the ubiquity of these anti-Muslim stereotypes seeping into the mainstream, have emboldened people to act upon this fear and anger," said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University San Bernardino.

"We must resolve to always speak out against hatred and bigotry in all of its forms -- whether taunts against the child of an immigrant farmworker or threats against a Muslim shopkeeper," President Obama told a group of new Americans last week. "We are Americans. Standing up for each other is what the values enshrined in the documents in this room compels us to do -– especially when it’s hard. Especially when it’s not convenient. That’s when it counts. That’s when it matters -- not when things are easy, but when things are hard."

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Attack against Sikh/American upgraded to a hate crime

A rally was held in Chicago to urge the attack be seen as a "hate crime."

THE TEENAGE assailant who yelled racist remarks at a Sikh/American, then beat him has been charged with a hate crime. Initially, the only crime leveled at the young man was "aggravated assault."

DuPage County State's Attorney Robert B. Berlin announced today (Sept. 15) that after further investigation and the discovery of additional evidence, his office has filed an amended juvenile petition in a case involving a Willowbrook teen accused of striking a Sikh/American in the face following a road rage incident last week, just days before American observed the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.

In addition to the Felony Aggravated Battery charges the juvenile is currently facing, one count of Hate Crime, a Class 4 Felony, has been added to the juvenile petition, which could enhance the sentence if the teen is found guilty. Because of the attacker's age, his name has not been released.

At approximately 5:15 p.m., Sept. 8, 2015, Darien police responded to a battery call near Cass and 69th, stated a police press release  Upon their arrival, police found Inderjit Mukker located in the front driver's seat of his vehicle suffering from apparent cuts and bruises on his cheeks. 

RELATED: Do Asian/Americans matter? Lady Justice's blindfold slips 

It is alleged that prior to the arrival of the police, Mukker and the defendant were involved in a "road rage" incident instigated by the defendant yelling racial slurs at Mukker. It is further alleged that following the altercation, Mukker and the defendant pulled their vehicles to the side of the road. 

It is further alleged that the accused attacker left his vehicle and approached Mukker's vehicle. It is alleged that following an exchange of words between the two, the defendant punched Mukker in the face as he sat in his vehicle. 

The teenager then fled the scene. An investigation into the matter led by the Darien Police Department led to the defendant. It is further alleged that when approached by police at his home, the defendant resisted arrest and punched a police officer in the face. 

"Crimes based on hatred or prejudices have no place in our society," Berlin said. "Any physical attack motivated in whole or in part by an offender's pre-conceived bias against another individual based on race, religion, disability, ethnic origin or sexual orientation is a crime not only against the victim but against society as a whole. Anyone accused of such behavior will be vigorously prosecuted and held accountable for their actions."
“We are thankful that Robert Berlin and the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office have filed a hate crime charge in this case,” the Sikh Coalition’s Legal Director, Harsimran Kaur said in a statement. “For the Sikh American community, a formal hate crime charge was never about a harsher penalty, but instead prosecuting the crime for what it was. We can’t combat the problem of hatred against minority communities in America unless our elected officials and government agencies acknowledge that the problem exists.”

A court date has not yet been set for the teenage defendant. 

Mukker, who was released from the hospital and spoke at a rally after the announcement.
"No Sikh, no American, should ever fear a simple trip to the grocery store. I was attacked because of my brown skin, turbin and a beard. I was assaulted in my car because I am a Sikh," he said.

Sikh groups have reported a surge of hate crimes against people in their community since the September 11 attacks. The U.S. Department of Justice has investigated more than 800 incidents against Sikh, Arab, Muslim and South Asian Americans since 9/11.