White supremacist found guilty for bombing of Minnesota Islamic Center

People of all faiths showed their support for the Islamic center after it was bombed.

A federal jury returned a guilty verdict against militia leader Micheal Hari, 49, for his role in the bombing of the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, on Aug. 5, 2017.

Following a three week trial, on Wednesday (Dec. 9) the jury convicted Hari on all five counts of the indictment, including intentionally defacing, damaging, and destroying any religious real property because of the religious character of that property; intentionally obstructing, and attempting to obstruct, by force and the threat of force, the free exercise of religious beliefs; conspiracy to commit federal felonies by means of fire and explosives; carrying and using a destructive device during and in relation to crimes of violence; and possession of an unregistered destructive device. 

Hari faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in prison.

“Michael Hari’s goal in bombing the Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center was to spread hatred, instill fear, and threaten the constitutionally protected right to freedom of religion. This act of violence, driven by hatred and ignorance, shook our community,” said U.S. Attorney Erica H. MacDonald for the Distirct of Minnesota. 

“This guilty verdict represents a condemnation of that hatred and upholds our fundamental right to live and worship free from the threat of violence and discrimination.”

As proven at trial, during the summer of 2017, Hari established in Clarence, Illinois, a terrorist militia group called “The White Rabbits,” according to court documents. Hari recruited several men, including co-defendants Michael McWhorter and Joe Morris, to join the militia group, which he outfitted with tactical vests and assault rifles. 

On Aug. 4 and 5, 2017, Hari, McWhorter, and Morris drove in a rented pickup truck from Clarence to Bloomington, Minnesota, with the mission of bombing the Dar al-Farooq (DAF) Islamic Center. Hari targeted DAF in an attempt to scare Muslims into believing they are not welcome in the United States and should leave the country.

As proven at trial, Hari, McWhorter and Morris arrived at DAF on Aug. 5, 2017, at approximately 5 a.m. Morris used a sledgehammer to break a window, which was part of DAF’s Imam’s office, and threw a plastic container containing diesel fuel and gasoline mixture into the building. McWhorter then lit the fuse on a 10-pound black powder pipe bomb that Hari had built and threw it through the broken window. McWhorter and Morris ran back to the truck, where Hari was waiting in the driver’s seat. The three men sped away from the building and drove back to Clarence. 

When the pipe bomb exploded, it ignited the mixture in the plastic container, causing extensive fire and smoke damage to the Imam’s office, in addition to water damage caused by the building’s sprinkler system. 

At the time of the bombing, several congregants were gathered in the mosque for morning prayers, but were uninjured.

On Jan. 24, 2019, McWhorter and Morris pleaded guilty to their roles in the bombing.

“The jury’s verdict confirms the fundamental principle that every person in this country has the right to exercise religion free from violence and fear,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the Civil Rights Division.

Bicyclist sucker punches an Asian American judge

The suspect was riding a rented Citi Bike.

Police released new video showing a bicyclist who punched an Asian American judge in the face for no apparent reason. 

New York Criminal Court judge Phyllis Chu became the victim of a crimeMondays morning when a man sucker punched her near the Staten Island Ferry in Manhattan.

Criminal Court Judge Phyllis Chu, who lives on Staten Island, has been identified by sources as the victim who apparently was sucker punched in broad daylight steps from the ferry.

On Monday at 9:40 a.m., Chu 56,  was walking northbound on Water Street near Wall Street when an unidentified man riding a Citi Bike southbound on Water Street punched her in the face, according to a statement from the NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.

"With no words exchanged, a bicyclist riding in the opposite direction as the one she was walking in just punched her in the face and kept going," Lucian Chalfen, a spokesperson for the city’s Office of Court Administration, told the New York Post. "It was totally unprovoked." 

The justice had left Whitehall and was heading to work at the Manhattan courthouse, located at 100 Centre Street, when the attack occurred.

Chu sustained swelling to the left side of her mouth and refused medical attention, according to the police statement. After being treated in the hospital, she was released.

Attacks against Asian Americans have risen dramatically since the spread of the coronavirus and Donald Trump began calling COVID-19, the "China virus," "Wuhan Virus" or "Kung Flu." 

New York City has established an Asian Hate Crime Task Forde to handle the attacks against Asian Americans and to encourage witnesses to cooperate with the police.

Until more information is gathered or the suspect has been arrested, the assault on Chu hasn't been classified as a hate crime.

According to her bio, Chu worked 23 years at the Kings County District Attorney's Office before being appointed as City Judge in December 2016. She worked as the senior assistant district attorney in the DA's office's homicide bureau.

People with information are asked to contact the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-8477 (TIPS). For Spanish, dial 1-888-577-4782 (PISTA). The public also can submit tips on the Crime Stoppers website, or by texting tips to 274637 (CRIMES), then entering TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.

Congress' minority caucuses unite to condemn attacks against Asians and AAPI

SCREEN CAPTURE / MSNBC

Rep. Judy Chu won the support of black, Hispanic and Native American congressional leaders.to condemn
anti-Asian attacks linked to the coronavirus.

ASAM NEWS & VIEWS FROM THE EDGE

The leaders of the Hispanic and Black congressional caucuses joined Asian American leaders, in condemning the surge of attacks against Asians and Asian Americans, who are being scapegoated for the coronavirus.

In a virtual press conference Monday, Rep. Judy Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), said at least 1,000 hate incidents -- or about 100 a day -- have been reported since the beginning of the pandemic across three separate reporting forums: Stop AAPI Hate, a separate site led by OCA — Asian Pacific American Advocates and a third site by Asian Americans Advancing Justice.

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, reminded listeners that the US has a history of discrimination toward Asian Americans, starting with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII.

Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said: "These attacks are nothing new, unfortunately, in the history of our country at different points in time. White supremacy rears its head, and there have been attacks on one of our communities."
The three leaders also expressed their support for a resolution introduced by Rep. Grace Meng, D-NY, calling for public officials to denounce the growing number of hate incidents directed at Asians and Asian Americans.

"I'm so thankful for the fact that it's not only Asian American leaders that are condemning these attacks but leaders from all around the country, from different backgrounds," said Meng, CAPAC vice chair. "The AAPI community has benefited so much from the struggles and the achievements of the black, Latino and Native American communities."

Later in the day, in an interview with MSNBC, Chu cited examples of the anti-Asian hate assaults including  the stabbing of three Chinese Americans in Texas, an Asian man in San Francisco attacked while collecting cans, and a 16-year-old Asian American sent to the hospital after school bullies accused him of having the virus.

“These are very, very alarming and are not helped by President Trump who calls this the ‘Chinese virus,’ ” Chu said in the interview, according to The Hill.

Healthcare experts from the Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization have warned against labeling the virus the “Chinese virus” or the “Wuhan virus.” They say the labels reinforce xenophobia and racism against Asian Americans.

At first, Trump defended his use of the term. He claimed that calling COVID-19 the “Chinese virus” was “not racist” because the virus originated in China. The term, therefore, was accurate.

Last week, however, Trump’s tone shifted when he tweeted that it was “very important that we totally protect our Asian American community in the United States, and all around the world.”

Chu, however, told MSNBC that the Trump’s tone shift was “too little, too late.”

uring the press conference, Chu said, Trump "continues to double down on that term, and his followers continue to double down on that term. What he should do is send a strong message to his followers to not say that. He should start with his task force," headed by Vice President Pence.

"Of course, there are the other people in his party that are in Congress that have continued to use that term, including our minority leader, Kevin McCarthy," she said. "So he should send the message directly to them if he really means what he said when he said 'Asian Americans should not be blamed for the coronavirus.'"

Before responding to reporters' questions, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, chairman of the Democratic Caucus, said: "In times of crisis, it's important for us all to stand together. It's particularly important for leaders of every race, every religion, every background to raise your voices as we are doing today to make it clear we will not tolerate anti-Asian rhetoric or violence against the community.

'White privilege' prevents Trump from seeing the racism in his use of 'China virus'

A closeup of Donald  Trump's speaking points.

ASAM NEWS

On Thursday, a Washington Post photographer captured an image of President Trump’s notes that shows the word ‘Corona’ crossed out and replaced with ‘Chinese’ in a description of COVID-19.

According to NBC, this edit appears to have been made in Sharpie in the president’s own handwriting.

This comes after the president told reporters on Wednesday that his consistent linking of COVID-19 to China is “not at all” racist.

Several Asian American nonprofits launched websites this week to monitor and report hate crimes and acts of discrimination against Asian people surrounding the coronavirus.

The World Health Organization has cautioned since 2015 against the use of geographic locations, species names or cultural terms in naming diseases.

“Viruses know no borders and they don’t care about your ethnicity or the color of your skin or how much money you have in the bank,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO health emergencies program, told CNN. “It’s really important that we be careful in the language we use.”

Dr. Sam Louie writes in Psychology Today that Trump's defensiveness for using the racist term is a result of white privilege in that he is incapable of seeing the term from the view of those who are offended.

"Trump’s defense is his belief that 'It’s not racist.' It may not be racist in the conventional sense of burning a cross on the lawn of a Black homeowner or yelling racist epithets at people, but it’s still racist in the sense that indirectly reminds Chinese and other ethnic minorities that the White majority gets to decide what is or isn’t racist.," writes Loue,  a psychotherapist in private practice specializing in addictions, Asian American issues and Christian counseling.

"The comment itself comes from Trump, who comes from a race that can make that blanket decision based on institutional power, privilege, and protection," continues Louie.

"While level-headed White Americans may ignore Trump’s comments, what’s often lost in these discussions about individual acts of racism are the pernicious and invisible systemic and institutional powers that continue to promote, disseminate, and keep White Americans in a place of racial leverage against their fellow ethnic Americans," Louie concludes.

64-year-old Sikh man stabbed to death

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People at a vigil for Parmjit Singh lit candles.

ASAM NEWS

Parmjit Singh, 64, was brutally stabbed to death while walking in his neighborhood in Tracy, California on Sunday (Aug. 25), CBS Sacramento reports. Now members of the Sikh American community in Tracy are searching for answers.
Singh immigrated to the United States in 2016 to study the irrigation systems of the US. He leaves behind two children and three grandchildren.

PARMJIT SINGH

According to CBS Sacramento, the attack happened Sunday around 9 p.m. in the area of Gretchen Talley Park.

Singh’s death has raised concerns for members of the community.

“How many people just go to the park for a walk? This could have been my relative, my uncle, my family member,” Jass Sangha, who helped organize a community meeting told CBS Sacramento. “Nobody deserves to die a death like that, no one deserves to see a family member stabbed.”

On Monday, police released footage of a man seen near the park during the time of Singh’s death, Huffington Post reports. Investigators are trying to find information about what this man may have seen. Members of the community are also offering a $1000 to identify the man caught on camera, CBS Sacramento reports.

Police presently have no suspects and said they are not sure if Singh's death was a hate crime.

"We don’t want to single out the fact that Mr. Singh was a member of a specific community," said Tracy Police Chief, Alex Neicu. "Mr. Singh was a member of Tracy’s community, and we’re all looking for answers. This is something that affects all of us equally."

Security cameras in the park were not operating. Police said the cameras haven't been working for several years despite signs advising park users that they are being monitored.

According to Huffington Post, an advocacy group called The Sikh Coalition says Singh’s death marks the seventh attack on an elderly Sikh man wearing a turban since 2011 in the Northern California area.

“We are deeply saddened by the death of this elderly Sikh community member,” the group’s legal director Amrith Kaur said in a statement. “As we look to learn more, we expect that local law enforcement will continue to investigate this case thoroughly, including the possibility that bias was a motivating factor in his murder.”

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A life sentence for murder of 3 Muslim American students; not a hate crime in North Carolina

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The three students  at UNC-Chapel Hill were shot dead in 2015.

ASAM NEWS

A judge sentenced Craig Stephen Hicks Wednesday to life in prison without parole for murdering three Muslim Americans.

Hicks was sentenced for murdering 23-year-old Deah Barakat, his wife Yusor Abu-Salha, 21, and her sister Razan Abu-Salha, 19, in their Chapel Hill, N.C. condo in 2015. 

Chapel Hill police said Hicks exploded following a parking dispute at his apartment complex, but the victims’ families and supporters across the globe say that Hicks targeted them because they were Muslim, and have called on federal authorities to pursue hate crime charges, The New York Times reported.

After Hicks pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, Judge Orlando Hudson asked the news media to turn off recorders and cameras. In a courtroom packed with the victims’ friends and family, many in Muslim dress, the prosecutors played previously unseen video footage from the night of the murders.

The New York Times reported that Hicks knocked on the victims' door, interrupting their dinner. “You’ve got three cars in the lot, and I don’t have a parking spot,” Hicks says in the video. According to police reports, none of the three students had parked in Hicks’ assigned parking spot, and only two had parked anywhere in the lot.

Barakat remains polite in the video and does not curse, but Hicks says, “If you’re going to be disrespectful towards me, I am going to be disrespectful of you.”

NPR News reported that the video was taken on Barakat’s cell phone. “Hicks can be seen first threatening Deah, then almost immediately start shooting. The cell phone falls with the camera facing the ceiling.”

Then, “the sounds of women screaming can be heard,” Fox News reported, “followed by several more shots. Then silence.”

At the hearing, the state said that investigators interviewed 36 neighbors, and none of the White neighbors remembered him carrying any weapons, but people of color did. He showed off a handgun on his hip when he wanted to intimidate his Korean neighbor, reported Fox News.

He also blocked the car of a woman of Indian descent and threatened to beat her, he told a Persian man, “I am sick of you people,” and used racial slurs against Black neighbors, reported The New York Times. And he confronted Abu-Salha and her mother in late 2014, NPR News reported, and said, “I don’t like the look of you people. Get out of here.” Both of the women were wearing hijabs.

“This was not a dispute over a parking space,” Mohammed Abu-Salha, father of the two slain women, told the Charlotte Observer. “This was a hate crime.”

North Carolina does not have a hate crime statute that would apply to first-degree murder, so family members have met with federal authorities repeatedly to pursue hate-crime charges, but to no avail.

Former US Attorney Ripley Rand said Wednesday that he hadn’t decided to pursue hate-crime charges against Hicks when he resigned before the incoming Trump administration in 2017. There was “no additional punishment he could have gotten that would have meant anything,” Rand said.

But the families of the victims disagree. “It hurt a lot of feelings and it added to the false narrative,” Joe Cheshire, an attorney for the families said. “Our government failed this family and our multicultural democracy.”

Barakat was a student at UNC Chapel Hill’s School of Dentistry. His wife of less than 2 months, Yusor Abu-Salha, was just accepted to the dental school. Her younger sister Razan Abu-Salha was an undergraduate and made the dean’s list at North Carolina State University, reported Fox News. The three often cooked food for a homeless shelter, worked to improve a Raleigh neighborhood, and were planning a trip to Turkey to provide aide to Syrian refugees.

“These were students who wanted nothing more than to change the world,” said UNC Chancellor Carol Folt, “who basically thought the most important thing in life was helping people that were less fortunate than they were.”

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Suspect in hammer attack charge with hate crime for killing three r

The man accused of killing three Asian men with a hammer at a Brooklyn restaurant faces hate crime charges, the Brooklyn District Attorney announced.

Authorities said Arthur Martunovich, 34, was arraigned via video Friday on a 21-count indictment. He remains at Bellevue Hospital, where he is being treated for mental health issues.

Martunovich is suspected of viciously attackng the employees of the Seaport Buffet Chinese restaurant on on January 15 with a hammer.

A dishwasher told the Daily News that Martunovich spared him, telling him, “I don’t have a problem with the Hispanics, but with the Chinese.”

The suspect then began attacking the restaurant employees who were Asian including the restaurant's chef, Fufai Pun, 34, manager Tsz Mat Pun, 50, and the owner, Kheong Ng-Thang, 50. Fufai Pun, died at the hospital the day of the attack while Thaang a day later followed by Tsz Pun.

According to court documents, when police were interviewing Martunovich after his arrest, he said, "Chinese men are awful. They hold their women captive. And their women have like real (inaudible) ability and that's why they keep them captive." 
When an officer asked if the defendant had a hammer, he said no, but later in the night, he admitted to having a hammer.

"I left my apartment with the hammer. I brought the hammer to prove my love to women. I threw the hammer but don't remember," Martunovich reportedly said.

Martunovich also three murder along with assault charges for allegedly attacking two police officers who arrested him.
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Hammer-wielding attacker kills Asian American chef

SCREEN CAPTURE / CBS

A MAN using a hammer attacked employees at a Brooklyn, killing at least one.

The alleged attacker, Arthur Martunovich, told detectives he was inspired by a movie about Chinese mistreatment of women.

After watching the movie - whose title Martunovich couldn't recall - he told police that he had "no choice' but to attack the workers at the Seapprt Buffet.

According to witnesses, Martunovich, 34, allegedly entered the restaurant around 5 p.m. Tuesday (Jan. 15) and struck owner Kheong Ng-Thang, 60, over the head. He then entered the kitchen where he supposedly attacked Tsz Mat Pung, 50, and killed chef Fufai Pun, 34. Thang died at the hospital Saturday (Jan 19) but Pung remains in critical condition.

The construction worker was charged with two counts of murder, attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon, sources said.

“He had problems with Asian men,” one law enforcement source told the New York Post. “He talked about how Asian women are being treated by their men.”

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Sunday Read Hate crimes rising, says FBI report

GRAPHIC FROM TWITTER

IN 2017, DONALD TRUMP'S first year in office, the number of hate crimes jumped up 17% from the previous year for a total of 7,175 hate crimes, the highest increase since 9/11.

It was the third year in a row that the FBI Hate Crimes Report has shown an increase. Part of the reason for the hike in hate crimes is that 1000 more jurisdictions are taking part in the voluntary program.
However, given that reporting hate crimes to the FBI is not mandatory, the FBI statistics likely represent only a fraction of such violence. Civil rights groups link the increase to Donald Trump statements and policies.

The report released Monday (Nov. 12) found that the majority of hate crime perpetrators were white, 50.7% followed by African Americans 21.3%.

Of the 4,832 single-bias hate crime offenses were motivated by race/ethnicity/ancestry, 3.1% were directed against Asians.

Of those hate crimes motivated by religion, the majority, 58%, were directed at those of the Jewish faith. Anti-Muslim, anti-Sikh and anti-Buddhist, faiths usually associated with Asians and Asian Americans, were targetted in 21% of the hate crimes.

"This report is a call to action—and we will heed that call," said Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker. "The Department of Justice’s top priority is to reduce violent crime in America, and hate crimes are violent crimes. They are also despicable violations of our core values as Americans,” 

WIKIPEDIA

Some say Donald Trump's rhetoric has emboldened racist movements in the United States. He said that "there were fine people on both sides," when he addressed the Charlottesville violence.

“I am particularly troubled by the increase in anti-Semitic hate crimes—which were already the most common religious hate crimes in the United States—that is well documented in this report.“

As alarming as the hate crime stats are, the actual number is likely much, much higher because of inconsistencies of the definition of hate crimes among the different agencies that choose to report the incidents. Also, not all law enforcement jurisdictions bother to gather the stats or even to report them to the FBI.

The Anti-Defamation League said some police departments in major U.S. cities didn’t report hate crimes as part of the annual report, including the Honolulu Police Department, Indianapolis Police Department and police in Kansas City, Kansas. Other departments, like the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and police in Miami, Florida and Newark, New Jersey, reported zero hate crimes.

There were also notable hate crimes missing from the FBI report. 

For instance, the murder of Indian American tech worker Srinivas Kuchibhotla is missing. According to FBI statistics, no hate crimes were reported last year in Olathe, Kansas. But on February 22, 2017, Kuchibhotla was killed at a bar in Olathe when a man shot him because of his perceived national origin. His friend Alok Madasani was also targeted but survived the shooting, as did a man named Ian Grillot who attempted to intercede.

The shooter, Adam Purinton, was convicted on federal hate crime charges but the local law enforcement agency didn't officially report it to the FBI as a hate crime. The FBI depends on those local agencies to report hate crimes in their jurisdictions.

Another example that was included in the FBI report was the car attack in Charleston that killed Heather Heyer. Heyer, who was protesting against the Unite the Right demonstrators, was killed when white supremacist James Allen Fields, Jr. drove his car into a crowd.

Although Fields was convicted of a hate crime under state law but authorities failed to include the incident to the Feds as a hate crime.

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring on Thursday unveiled legislation aimed at preventing hate crimes and white-supremacist violence as reports of such incidents increase around the country.

It is his third attempt to pass similar legislation. The proposals have so far been blocked by Republicans in the state legislature concerned that they were overly broad and restricted gun rights.

"It is well past time to acknowledge the threat posed by hate and white-supremacist violence and take action to stop it," Herring said.

Next year, FBI personnel will provide training for law enforcement officers on how to identify bias-motivated incidents and report that data to the FBI’s UCR Program. Additionally, the Department of Justice launched a new hate crimes webpage, which has information for law enforcement on reporting incidents.

Some of the highlights of the FBI report includes the following:

Of the 6,370 known offenders: 

• 50.7% were White 
• 21.3% were Black or African American 
• 19.1% race unknown 
• Other races accounted for the remaining known offenders

Of the 5,131 known offenders for whom ethnicity was reported: 

• 25.0% were Not Hispanic or Latino
• 8.8% were Hispanic or Latino 
• 1.6% were in a group of multiple ethnicities 
• 64.5 ethnicity unknown 

In 2017, law enforcement agencies reported that 4,832 single-bias hate crime offenses were motivated by race/ethnicity/ancestry. Of these offenses:

• 48.8 percent were motivated by anti-Black or African American bias.
• 17.5 percent stemmed from anti-White bias. 
• 10.9 percent were classified as anti-Hispanic or Latino bias. 
• 5.8 percent were motivated by anti-American Indian or Alaska Native bias. 
• 4.4 percent were a result of bias against groups of individuals consisting of more than one race (anti-multiple races, group). 
• 3.1 percent resulted from anti-Asian bias. 
• 2.6 percent were classified as anti-Arab bias. 
• 0.4 percent (17 offenses) were motivated by bias of anti-Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. 
• 6.5 percent were the result of an anti-Other Race/Ethnicity/Ancestry bias. 

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,679 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-biased offenses showed:

• 58.1 percent were anti-Jewish. 
• 18.7 percent were anti-Islamic (Muslim). 
• 4.5 percent were anti-Catholic. 
• 3.2 percent were anti-multiple religions, group. 
• 2.4 percent were anti-Protestant. 
• 1.8 percent were anti-Other Christian. 
• 1.4 percent were anti-Sikh. 
• 1.4 percent were anti-Eastern Orthodox (Russian, Greek, Other). 
• 0.9 percent (15 offenses) were anti-Mormon 
• 0.9 percent (15 offenses) were anti-Hindu. 
• 0.8 percent (13 offenses) were anti-Jehovah’s Witness. 
• 0.5 percent (9 offenses) was anti-Buddhist. 
• 0.5 percent (8 offenses) were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc. 
• 4.9 percent were anti-other (unspecified) religion.

Civil rights organizations that maintain their own data on hate crimes, such as the ACLU,  the Anti-Defamation League, Southern Poverty Law Center, Council for American-Islamic Relations and South Asian American Leading Together mention the harsh rhetoric coming from the White House and Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric as a catalyst for behavior based on prejudice.

“While everybody should be horrified by these jaw-dropping statistics, these numbers still fail to paint a complete picture of the enormity of the problem,” said Sikh Coalition Legal Director Amrith Kaur.


The omission of the Kuchibhotla murder was spotlighted by South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) in its critique of the report. 

In SAALT's 2018 report Communities on Fire report found that perpetrators of hate violence referenced Trump, a Trump administration policy, or a Trump campaign slogan in one out of every five hate incidents documented. 

"White supremacist violence, fanned by the flames of racist rhetoric and policies at the federal level, has devastated marginalized communities," said SAALT in a press release.  "Until this administration confronts this crisis, we will continue to face a surge in hate crimes aimed at our communities."

California had the greatest number of hate crimes, but that was due to the fact that it also had the greatest number of jurisdictions reporting hate crimes.

“America’s elected president has mocked the disabled, called Mexicans rapists and murderers, executed a Muslim travel ban, issued disparaging remarks about women and African Americans, and is working to roll back protections for members of our transgender community,” San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón told the San Francisco Chronicle. “The country’s increase in hate crimes should be a surprise to no one, but it should be alarming to all. We look to our elected leaders to set an example.”

As of this writing, Trump hasn't said anything about the FBI report.
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Texas mosque arsonist sentenced to 24 years in prison

VICTORIA MOSQUE

A new mosque replaces the one that was burned down in a hate crime in Victoria, Texas.

THE ARSONIST who burned down a mosque in Victoria, Texas was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison.

Marq Perez, 26, was convicted of hate crime and felony arson in July for setting fire to the Victoria Islamic Center in Texas on January 28, 2017.

"I do believe justice has been served," explained OMAR Rachid, Victoria Mosque Board Membe. "We certainly appreciate the judge giving complete consideration of the impact this crime had taken on us. And, also taken into consideration the sentencing guidelines and taken into consideration, most importantly, the constitution and the protection afforded to all Americans."
A jury found Perez guilty on July 16, for a hate crime in the burning of the Victoria Islamic Center (the mosque) on Jan. 28, 2017, and for the use of fire to commit a federal felony. In addition, the jury found that Perez possessed an unregistered destructive device for a separate but related incident that occurred on Jan. 15, 2017.

The town of Victoria, Texas was shaken last year when Perez set fire to the Victoria Islamic Centre, burning it to the ground while "jumping up and down like a little kid," according to one witness who spoke at his trial. Testimony revealed Mr Perez had conducted "recon" on the mosque in the days ahead of the fire and had a well-documented history of Islamophobic behavior on social media.

The witness testified that Perez said that he burned down the mosque, because he wanted to “send a message.”
“The Attorney General has said that the Freedom of religion is indeed our ‘first freedom’—being the first listed right of our First Amendment,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Patrick. 

“The Department of Justice prosecutes violent and dangerous crime, but also, and particularly when that crime interferes with someone’s ability to practice their religious faith. Not only was this a dangerous and potentially deadly act, but also one spurred from hate. I am glad justice was served in this case.”

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Missouri man sentenced to two years for threatening Muslims

Services at Islamic Society of Augusta (Georgia).

ANOTHER ISLAMAPHOBE will spend the next two years in prison because of his intolerance towards Muslims.

Preston Q. Howard, 50, of Wright City, Missouri, was sentenced July 24 by Chief United States District Court Judge J. Randal Hall to two years in prison for threatening to blow up a mosque and kill its members. The judge enhanced the sentence because Mr. Howard chose his victims based on their religion, thereby committing a hate crime. 

PRESTON Q. HOWARD

According to court documents, between June 22, 2017, and Aug. 8, 2017, Howard made dozens of early morning telephone calls to the Islamic Society of Augusta (ISA), during which he threatened to “kill,” “bomb,” “shoot,” “behead,” “slaughter,” “execute,” “light on fire,” and “murder” members of the mosque, to “hunt down” and “zone in” on Muslims, and to “blow up the mosque.” 

Howard pleaded guilty to these acts and obstructing or attempting to obstruct the mosque members’ free exercise of their religious beliefs.

When imposing the sentence, Hall noted Howard’s “disturbing pattern of intolerance of many groups of people,” and the Court’s intent to afford a deterrent to similar criminal conduct by Howard and others who may believe and act as he did.

During his sentencing, Howard said he has spent his time studying Islam and no longer has the hatred towards that religion that spurred his previous actions.
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Killer pleads guilty to 'act of evil' for Kansas shooting of two Indian men

Srinivas Kuchibhotla, left, and Alok Madasani.

IT MAY NOT SEEM LIKE MUCH, but Adam W. Purinton  of Olathe, Kansas, pleaded guilty May 21 in federal court to enhanced charges of committing a hate crime for shooting Indian nationals and the man who tried to chase Purinton.

Although Purinton has already been convicted of murder in the State of Kansas, and sentenced to life in prison, his new plea in federal court speaks to his motive to killing Srinivas Kuchibhotla and wounding Alok Madasani and Ian Grillot, said FBI Kansas City Special Agent in Charge Darrin Jones. 

“By his agreement to today’s (May 21) plea, Purinton acknowledges that his actions were motived by his hatred of the victims’ race, religion, color and national origin.  This type of hatred will never be tolerated," said Jones.

ADAM PURINTON

A few weeks before the shooting, Purinton was sitting by himself in the bar area at Austins Bar & Grill when, coincidentally, Kuchibhotla and Madasani, both Indian/Americans, both tech workers with legal visas, happened to be having a drink on the patio.  According to court documents, upon noticing the two men, Purinton commented to a regular sitting at the bar, “Did you see the terrorists on the patio?”

On Feb. 22, last year, Purinton drove to the bar and grill and sat by himself at a table on the enclosed front patio.  Sitting at the table to his left were Ian Grillot and several other patrons.  Sitting at the table to his right were Kuchibhotla and Madasani.

At 6:40 p.m., Purinton approached Kuchibhotla and Madasani, and demanded to know where they were from and how they entered the country.  Purinton poked Kuchibhotla in the chest, called him a “terrorist” and an epithet disparaging persons of Middle Eastern descent,  and shouted, “Get out of my country!”  Ian Grillot and another patron interceded, told Purinton that he needed to leave, and escorted him out of the bar. 

Purinton drove home and retrieved one of his guns: a Taurus PT111 Millennium Pro nine-mm semi-automatic pistol. To disguise his identity, Purinton changed into a different shirt and grabbed a blue-and-white scarf.

At 7:12 p.m., Purinton returned to the restaurant.  He wrapped the scarf around his face to disguise his identity and exited his truck carrying his semi-automatic pistol.  

Purinton walked over to the enclosed front patio, opened the door, aimed his semi-automatic pistol at the two Indian/Americans, and fired eight rounds—at least four of which struck Kuchibhotla, who died from his injuries, and one of which struck Madasani, who was injured, but survived.  

Hours after the shooting, Purinton stated over the phone to a friend, and later in person to a bartender, that he had just killed some Iranians.

After shooting Kuchibhotla and Madasani, Purinton ran out, and Ian Grillot chased after him.  As Grillot caught up to him, Purinton turned around and shot Grillot, who was injured but survived. 

Purinton faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, which is the sentence that the prosecution and defense are jointly requesting. Sentencing is scheduled for July 2.

“Hate crimes are acts of evil, and the Department of Justice has prioritized their zealous prosecution,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Jesse Panuccio. “In this case, the defendant embarked on a murderous rampage with clear premeditation to kill on the basis of race, color, religion, and national origin. It was a hate crime, and he is being brought to justice. 

"While we cannot ameliorate the irreparable harm to the victims and their families, we hope that securing this guilty plea brings them some measure of closure," said Panuccio.  "And this prosecution sends a message across the nation: hate crimes will not be tolerated.”

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Man drives truck into a Sikh-owned convenience store

Chad Horsley

A FORMER reserve sheriff’s deputy in Louisiana's Livingston Parish is facing hate crime charges after telling authorities that he plowed his pickup truck into a convenience store because he thought its Sikh owners were Muslim.

Chad Horsley, 27, is accused of several recent offenses all involving a convenience store on La. 1019, according to a news release last week from the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office.

Deputies identified Horsley as the suspect and questioned him about his actions. Ard said Horsley's account did not match surveillance footage and witness statements. Horsley admitted to investigators that he purposefully caused damage to the store because he thought the owners were Muslim.

Sikhs are often mistaken as Muslims, according to the several surveys done by teh Department of Justice and confirmed by the South Asian American Leading Together (SAALT).

Harjot Singh, a nephew of the store owner who works as a cashier there, told the Advocate that attacking anyone for their religious identity isn’t acceptable.

“Even if it was Muslims, he shouldn’t have done that thing,” said Singh, who immigrated to the U.S. from India two years ago. “We’re just trying to make a living out of here, that’s all we’re doing.”

Horsley joined the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in 2014, but was honorably discharged in December because of liver disease, according to the New York Daily News.

Before that, starting in 2010, he served for six years as a deputy in nearby East Baton Rouge Parish in both a full-time and reserve capacity.

Stephen Horsley said his son was honorably discharged from the military in December 2017 after he was diagnosed with liver disease and needed to receive treatment. He started working for a crane operating company most recently.

Family members had noticed that Chad Horsely was more distant than usual the past few months. But his dad said they never could have predicted anything close to the recent allegations. He also noted that his son has no history of mental health diagnoses or treatment.

"I'm in shock because that's not my son," Samuel Horsley said, his voice choking up over the phone. "He's about as far from a racist as they come. I did not raise my kids that way (but) taught them to always look at people in their heart. … He wasn't in his right mind. He must've just snapped."

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