Sikh man’s hair cut off during brutal assault in California
- 8 years ago
RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA — Maan Singh Khalsa, a 41-year-old Sikh-American IT worker of Punjabi descent, got the tar beaten out of him by a group of white thugs last month.
A beer can was thrown at his car door by a group of white guys while Singh was driving home in Richmond, California on the night of Sept. 25, according to an open letter to Richmond Police Department from the Sikh Coalition, which is acting on Khalsa’s behalf. He tried to question one of them, but the man became aggressive and Khalsa fled.
Terrified, Khalsa called 911 and told the operator what was going down. However, he soon stopped again at another light, and so did the men from earlier. This time Khalsa had nowhere to run.
The men knocked his turban off and attacked him repeatedly through the window. To add insult to injury, the wretches severed a fistful of Khalsa’s hair. According to the Sikh Coalition, targeting a Sikh’s turban and hair is analogous to targeting a Jew’s yarmulke or a Muslim’s hijab.
When the light turned green, Khalsa managed to escape, and the 911 operator told him to wait on the cops at a nearby gas station.
Following the attack, Khalsa received several nasty injuries to his teeth and face. His right pinky is so badly infected, it might need to be amputated.
The cops last week arrested suspects Chase Little and Dustin Albarado in connection with the incident, but said a third suspect escaped. Little and Albarado were charged with felony assault, but the Sikh Coalition are pushing for them to be charged under California’s hate crime laws.
A beer can was thrown at his car door by a group of white guys while Singh was driving home in Richmond, California on the night of Sept. 25, according to an open letter to Richmond Police Department from the Sikh Coalition, which is acting on Khalsa’s behalf. He tried to question one of them, but the man became aggressive and Khalsa fled.
Terrified, Khalsa called 911 and told the operator what was going down. However, he soon stopped again at another light, and so did the men from earlier. This time Khalsa had nowhere to run.
The men knocked his turban off and attacked him repeatedly through the window. To add insult to injury, the wretches severed a fistful of Khalsa’s hair. According to the Sikh Coalition, targeting a Sikh’s turban and hair is analogous to targeting a Jew’s yarmulke or a Muslim’s hijab.
When the light turned green, Khalsa managed to escape, and the 911 operator told him to wait on the cops at a nearby gas station.
Following the attack, Khalsa received several nasty injuries to his teeth and face. His right pinky is so badly infected, it might need to be amputated.
The cops last week arrested suspects Chase Little and Dustin Albarado in connection with the incident, but said a third suspect escaped. Little and Albarado were charged with felony assault, but the Sikh Coalition are pushing for them to be charged under California’s hate crime laws.