I have had a fever for most of the day, so when I woke up and checked my GMail, I thought I was hallucinating while reading something sent out via ASATA (Alliance of South Asians Taking Action). SALDEF (The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund) just issued a press release regarding an incident which makes me sick; Kuldip Singh Nag, a Sikh American VETERAN was assaulted by the Joliet police, in front of his six-year old child and wife. His crime? Parking a van with expired tags in his driveway. What. The. Fuck.
I can’t find anything beyond a useless mention of Nag’s arrest on a “police blotter” type of article, so if any of you know of further developments, please let us know. The following is from SALDEF:
On Friday March 30, 2007 at around 3:00pm, Mr. Kuldip Singh Nag, a Sikh American who was awarded the Bronze Star for his service in the U.S. Navy during the first Gulf War, was at his home in Joliet, IL when a local police officer noticed that a van parked on Mr. Nag’s private property had expired registration tags. Upon being confronted with this, Mr. Nag’s wife, Vera Kaur Nag, informed the officer that the van is parked on their driveway and was inoperable.
Mr. Nag then came outside to answer the officer’s questions regarding the van. The Joliet police officer then demanded that Mr. Nag park the van inside his garage and not on the driveway, to which Mr. Nag responded to the officer that it was not possible and that regardless, the van is parked on his private property and he has a right to park it on his driveway.
At this moment, the officer pulled out his pepper spray and attacked Mr. Nag. As Mr. Nag screamed in agony, the officer removed his baton and violently struck Mr. Nag numerous times until he fell to the ground. While the assault ensued, the officer was reported by both Mr. and Mrs. Nag as saying, “You f****** Arab! You f***** immigrant, go back to you f****** country before I kill you!â€
Mr. Nag’s wife and six year-old child both witnessed the violent assault, which resulted in Mr. Nag immediately being admitted to the hospital where he stayed for five days due to complaints of intense pain and head trauma. Mr. Nag also received numerous bruises and a serious head injury which have caused him to go blind for several minutes at a time.
I join SALDEF in calling for an immediate investigation into this brutal crime. Kuldip Singh Nag served the very nation this xenophobic police officer screamed at him to leave and while a few of you may question my emphasis on his military service, I just think it adds an extra ungrateful, deplorable angle to an incident which is already appalling.
“This case seems to be a clear incident of police misconduct in Illinois,†said SALDEF Managing Director Kavneet Singh. “We are horrified at the anti-immigrant sentiment the officer allegedly used as he violently accosted Mr. Nag, and further that his six year old son was a witness to this violent assault. We call upon both Joliet and Illinois officials to investigate this incident and for the Illinois community to stand in solidarity with Mr. Nag.â€
Illinois desis, where you at? And will there ever be a point in my lifetime when someone doesn’t tell a South Asian American to go back to where they “fucking came from”?
UPDATE [By Ennis]: I spoke to somebody at SALDEF who said that Mr. Nag’s legal counsel can indeed verify that he is a Veteran.
That’s just sickening.
MD, I guess if it’s that easy, I don’t understand cases like this:
I mean, wouldn’t Fox have checked the background of its “Military Analyst” ?
One would think Ennis, and you’re just underscoring my point. That is exactly why I’m suggesting going forward but getting all the information you can beforehand. Sheesh. Isn’t that just common sense? I have no trouble believing this happened the way the guy said it did: I’m just saying, you want to go forward, get it right from the beginning. Why is that so hard to understand?
Shorter MD: Outrage is fine. Winning is better.
MD, let me redirect. How does one go about verifying the status of somebody who is claiming to be a veteran? Is there a national database? What information does one need to identify the person in question?
I have to go off-line soon, but I think there are data bases you can check. I e-mailed you some websites that post a lot of veterans stuff and I think milblogs.com (I think that’s the url) has, like, hundreds of them linked.
Ennis (#105). Yeah: http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/topics/indigent/index.htm. We should be dignified and thorough about this if we really want to see it through.
Focus, please my beloved, wise elders. 🙂 MD makes a valid point– but I don’t think it hurts to drum up awareness, either.
Say that this guy did hit the officer, by all mean’s go ahead and arrest him and spray him with pepper spray, but if your screaming, “You f****** Arab! You f***** immigrant, go back to you f****** country before I kill you!â€, while you are doing it then you need to be fired and the guy being assulted should be compensated with money for what his son had to listen to. This kid will never trust a cop in his life and it’s thank’s to this douche.
I didnt hear about this at all, until now and I read the paper’s everyday and I live about 20 min from Joliet,AKA the asshole of the Chicago land area. I could go to this guy’s house tomorrow and do some reporting, but I will need to be compensated for the pain and agony of having to enter Joliet.
I bet my parent’s somehow know this guy since the Punjabi community is tiny in Chicago. I’ll snoop around and see if I can come up with anything.
the story is on boing boing. they got the link via someone rumored to be a registered republican 😉
From the Joliet police blotter, April 5, 2007:
…i need to change my handle….
If indeed events have happened in the manner described….This is just pathetic !
It makes me wonder what kind of feelings will be going on in Mr. Nag’s (and Mrs Nag’s) mind after the incident. Being a citizen (born and/or raised in the US) and then having to go through such blatant racial discrimination in your own country after serving for your country this long is hard to digest/fathom. As a first generation desi and an immigrant I am curious to know how a 2nd generation ( or a gen X )desi would feel if they were subject to this .. ??
Would you feel disillusioned ? Would you feel like an outcast ? Would you cry and slowly get over it/move on with life thinking it was just a bad experience ? Would you feel revengeful and/ or fight for justice ?
More importantly will such a personal incident dent your patriotic feelings even slightly ?
I am curious to know.
Whoops, here’s the link to the Joliet police blotter regarding Mr. Nag’s arrest.
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/police/328306,4_1_JO05_COPS_S1.article
Bronze Stars are given for non-combat related actions, too. For example a Navy doc was a recipient for his actions in saving wounded in Fallujah. I know of another officer who got one for doing a job very, very well done (logistics). When the “V” along with a Bronze star is given, you know it’s for combat (V for Valor).
This isn’t a case of profiling – if the report is accurate it’s a boor headed local policeman going on a powertrip. For a something extremely benign. In most cases, the police leave a ticket on your windshield and move on.
It’s hard to verify Veteran status, though the Dept of Navy if sent a request will provide very basic information. I wound up working with a big time poser, for whom it took a year to get busted. He was outed by other veterans when their spidey sense of a poser went off…. Larry Gugle was the poser’s name. Generally, most veterans are low key and don’t advertise. They just go around doing their business.
Also, be wary of most publicly claiming SEAL, SF, or any other ‘high speed’ status. Those guys are generally quite professionals and don’t advertise their professions, either.
Sad to see a Veteran be treated as such. Though based upon the report, this is clearly some cop on a sadistic powertrip, not some grand conspiracy. Tact is a policeman’s best ally. Very poor professional conduct and judgement here. He should be fired and the department needs to take care of the victim here.
GET THE LOCAL CONGRESSMAN AND POLITICIANS INVOLVED. Obama and Durbin are Senators, too.
Slutty or not, you done good Razib. Thanks, man.
And THIS is why I think desis are crazy, stupid, or both to fight in this country’s military.
Ennis,
Ennis is right. I do not think you can easily verify anyone’s veteran status, unless you have the authority/ permission to do so by the Government. It is strictly protected by privacy laws. Therefore, you see a lot of murkiness in people’s claims about service, valor, etc. in public space.
Comment #. 107 just takes you to US Govt. Veterans Affairs website, but will not let you let access any of their databases.
Veteran or no-Veteran…….any person (1st gen, 2nd gen, visitor) should not be assaulted/ abused by government servants, like cops.
So Imus makes international news (the BBC even picked it up) for using some racist language, gets fired from MSNBC, and this has not hit the pages of CNN or MSNBC?
A waterfall starts with a single drop of water, hopefully this story will pick up speed and this man can get the justice and respect he deserves. Nice job Anna Sinclair.
Really? THIS is why? My little sister is a veteran and she is neither crazy nor stupid. Your comment is disrespectful, hurtful and it accomplishes nothing. Desis shouldn’t serve because ONE asshole rogue cop might go on a power trip later? What the fuck.
Where’s the solidarity? Or is it only there for those whose actions aren’t “crazy or stupid”? Shame on you.
Couldn’t keep away.
Seriously, it’s that hard to verify Gujudude? Sheesh. That’s the government for you…..
Your suggestion re: local politicians is excellent.
Razib: good going on the Boing Boing link, you internet star, you. I’d say the story is out now.
Does anyone happen to have the name of the policeman involved? It’s a little weird to be going to the press without a name or badge number of the arresting officer.
Kush: Oh, I see why for privacy issues you can’t verify veteran status. That makes sense.
What about awards given out? *Unrelated to this post, just curious how you would know.
I think getting on top of things like this is very important for the very reason that you don’t want minorities afraid to enter the military or police force, you know? Plus, as stated, no one should be treated this way, for any reason, by the cops.
Also, didn’t Radley Balko (CATO) do a whole series on no-knock raids and the like? Wouldn’t someone like that be interested in this story? Part of the whole drumming up more publicity, er, if that’s the correct word.
i wonder if conservative blogs will jump to his defense like they did with matt sanchez a darling of that ‘spitfire’ michelle malkin, among others.
oh wait…he never led a double life as a gay escort and porn star. aw shucks–no conservative revving of the perpetually patriotic outrage engine means no exposure for Nag.
You know, if this was the weak attitude Tuskegee airmen had, African American’s would have never earned the ability to participate in the military as full fledged members (not just cooks or truck drivers) before rest of America was integrated. They fought for it, within the system, and by being absolutely EXCELLENT. Nothing shuts people up better than being at the top of your game.
AMERICANS, should do what they want. Which means if they want to be a hippie smoking weed legally, they should be allowed to. If they want to join the military and participate in a function of government, that in modern day is despised for it’s ‘image’, yet when reality seeps in is absolutely a necesssity, they should be allowed to.
Seriously – other veterans have got the shorter end of the stick, too. There is no goddamned stamp that one walks around on their forehead with, that says “ARMED FORCES VETERAN”. Veterans screw up, do well, are normal, and everything in between. The military is a microcosm of society. Policeman have shit on veterans – black, brown, and actually more often white for reasons that can only be described as “My daddy has a bigger car than you” or some stupid dick contest Mr. LEO (law enforcement officer) has to prove his ‘worth’ in.
Quickest way to verify is to ask for a veteran’s DD-214 from the vet or somehow request records. I just googled this website.
Now posted here too…
The blogger there makes a good point, video is what makes the evening news.
I have to say it but welcome to my world,police are hell on minorities even if you did serve in the military. I support this man as a fellow vet.
Sigh…why does this have to turn into a right versus left thing, always? I’m so tired of filtering everything through the R vs D light. Although, as a conservative-minded type myself, I have to admit I sort of think it might be a story on some of the vet blogs, but I can’t see it being a big story on Instapundit or anything like that. And I like Instapundit.
Dheerjai you comments were very stupid to say the least. Racism is a problem in the United States. But it also problem in every other country on the planet.
I may be a clueless canadian, but my mom’s whole family other then her, lives in the United States. Most of them came in the mid 80’s from Punjab to live in the United States. They are all sikh’s and in the last 20+ years they have enjoyed there life in the United States.
A desi’s being a minority in the United States, is alot better then being a desi minority in most other places in the world.
Because I’ve rarely seen a conservative news source side with a citizen against a cop, even though being wary of state power is indeed a conservative tenet. For example, the big stories about police abuse, like the one in Tulia Texas, seemed to get little traction from the right side of the media. Similarly, some of the bigger wrongful arrest stories also seem to get little traction there. Each sphere has issues it cares more about than others.
don’t really care what side of the madhouse revs the outrage engine–only for america to see a humanized brown face (and not some Apu-like monstrosity) with which other veterans can identify (and possibly support/have warmer feelings towards in the future?)
Ditto. Hopefully this story gains traction in the community. Problem is, many veterans are also in law enforcement post military careers. As a result of the media dynamics, most are very reluctant to take similar reports seriously. I think this case has some strong potential for action against the department considering the context of the confrontation (it’s not like this was a drug or hard crime case).
Ennis: yes and know 🙂 When it comes to guns and homeowners, the conservative sites tend to side with the homeowner with the gun….in my probably inaccurate rememberings. But, it’s true you can be blinded by your ideology. I suppose the best way to stay honest is to make sure you engage with, and pay attention to, the arguments on the other side.
*Also, I wonder if my natural (maybe too much) caution toward all of this is due to the fact that it’s my day job to be cautious…I mean, literally, I have to generate a differential and think of everything that could create the biopsy results I am looking at before ‘jumping’ to an anwer.
um, if his story checks out, this guy didn’t just suffer a bruised ego or feel as if his professor tripped the criticism-of-Israel/antisemitism switch in class–he actually got the whole new-age police takedown: pepper, pressure points and the involuntary curbside face-plant.
Imus had long been a media cancer that needed to be removed. It’s about time that racist got called out, and I don’t think international attention was inappropriate. (I’m not saying that you’re saying it’s inappropriate.) I think any and all international attention to American racism in all its manifestations is a healthy thing, and I would be happy to see this story make BBC or some other major international headlines. I’m with ShallowThinker on the point that, regardless of whether or not the cop needed to get physical, he was screaming “You f****** Arab! You f***** immigrant, go back to you f****** country before I kill you!â€. THAT is what’s particularly fucked up. This is a post 9/11 issue; Islamophobia and racial profiling for what most people think an Arab inherently looks like (brown), and it is relevant worldwide because the United States isn’t the only country that has this attitude to browns, Arabs and Muslims.
Are you seriously going to try and prove that this is random? Because if it were, then why didn’t he pick on somebody else? Why the xenophobia? Why the racism? I know he was on a powertrip; that’s what these fools do. But to go on a really good powertrip you need to pick on who you know is the weakest and most vulnerable, and this guy knew that he wasn’t going to get away with it if it were some rich white guy whose car was parked with expired tags outside his mansion, know’m sayin’? This guy is not a “bad apple”. If anything, a good cop is a “good apple” on a rotten tree. Police brutality and racial profiling are not sanctioned, they’re straight up institutionalized.
Yeah, agreed, if it went down that way the cop just needs to go, period. Gujudude: That’s a good point about post-military careers, but I’ve seen a bunch of stories on some vet blogs where they’ve got badly treated by a cop and the main thrust of the story is to support the vet. So, I don’t know.
*If this happened to me, I’d hate it and hate the cop and really hate it if the cop didn’t get fired, but I don’t think it would change my basic feeling about this country. Might change how I feel about cops in general, though….although I know some really good guys who are cops, so, it’s hard for me to know.
Shurti you said A good cop is good cop on rotton tree. Police brutality and racial profiling are not sanctioned, they are straight up institutionalized.
Maybe I should start judging everu group by the action of a few.
Copwatch is an organization dedicated to tracking police brutality.
Um, I’m not trying to prove anything here. WE DON’T HAVE THE DATA on whether this police officer or the Joliet PD’s conduct was random or institutionalized. I don’t have their freaking track record. Police Departments are local, so a PD in Joliet isn’t the same as NYPD or LAPD or SFPD.
To me, this seems like a bigot exercising his bigotry as an opportunist. He talked to the wife at first, not the man who was beat. Why didn’t he flag anyone else? I don’t know. You don’t either. Was he on a patrol through the neigborhood looking to show his boss he did some work? Was he premeditating the beating? What conclusions can I draw about all PDs across the country (Not just NYPD or LAPD or CPD)? None.
An officer violated the trust of the public and he should be punished. Lets start there before going on a jihad against the fascist, babykilling, racist, bigot pigs that are uniformed personnel. Frankly, you don’t know if this guy was a bad apple on a good tree or a good apple on a bad tree since you have freaking clue on that department’s staff, record, OR history. If you do, please enlighten us.
MD,
If you follow Gujudude’s links to see the iron clad that is in place for information gateways is or the privacy act of 1974 or special procedures in place for anyone other than next of kin seeking information, I do not think Veterans records are littered all over.
Here is some info from US Government Veteran’s Affairs Webpage:
Who Has Access to Veteran Information?
Is it a common practice to allow data of this nature to be accessed by private contractors?
VA sometimes contracts with companies to provide certain services that enable VA to provide better service to veterans. Some of these VA contractors have veteran information on their computers. All contractors are bound by regulations that limit their use of this information to what they need to provide their service. We are working with our contractors to insure our veterans’ data receives the highest standard of security and privacy protection.
I do not know how much information is even readily available for medals. I guess the list might be easy to get but not the details, internal reports, citations, etc…….John Kerry, and his military records………or data stolen in 2006.
Please, everyone…the passion is good, but let’s focus: this is about the actions of ONE xenophobic cop, not “how all cops suck” or anything else. No matter where you stand I would hope that you would agree that this incident needs to be investigated, either to find justice for Mr. Nag or to exonerate the police officer involved.
All I want is exposure for this case, since MSM didn’t cover it. What really happened? We all want to know– for that to happen, we need to spread the word, for THAT to happen…we need to focus.
Wow, people actually responded to me? I wasn’t expecting that . . .
I dunno, in light of the imperialist bullshit this country’s military has been involved in for the last 50-80 years, it seems to me that even a superficial understanding of history would make it pretty clear that it’s very much against the interests of any of us “minorities” to take up the cause of the plutocratic kleptocracy that’s been “in control of things” for longer than most (if not all) of us posting here have even been alive.
Today, India is a “friend” of the US. Past performance is not an indicator of future results. Most of us have probably seen the picture of Donny Rumsfeld shaking hands with the late Saddam Hussein, for instance. I will put MONEY on the US government deciding India is an “enemy” some time in my lifetime (I’m 32, FYI). An empire that is past its peak and has begun its decline — like this one — will, like a cornered, rabid dog, start lashing out at anyone and everyone it can. Until and unless there are significant changes 38 miles to my southwest in DC (my hometown), I don’t expect my prediction to be proven false.
Damn, Anna. I always thought you were cool, and I’d be lying if I said I haven’t ventured into Tryst a time or two with half a thought in the back of my head that it’d be kinda neat to run into you, but . . . I dunno. It seems to me we’re destined to never see eye to eye. (Would’ve been weird to run into you with a date, though.) I guess I don’t think it’s so much . . . stupid or crazy that you’ve a veteran in your family as I think it’s just . . . sigh. Sad, frankly.
I say this not just as some rabid anti-American nut, but as a pacifist overall, and a person who’s been rudely awakened early in the morning TWICE by the shithead FBI and/or Homeland Security, or whatever those dipshits call themselves these days. So you’ll excuse me if I’m not such a goddamn flag-waving Johnny Patriot, I hope.
Ultimately, nationalism of any sort is a disease, and war just fucking sucks.
If this country’s military really WAS just about defending the country — not taking offensive moves to benefit an imperialist fraction of the top one percent of the populace — then I’d see some merit in joining the military. But as it stands, the very notion of proud Indian folk joining this military . . . fuck it, I’m sorry. It’s not “politically correct” to say, and I know it, but goddammit it, it’s not very “model minority” behavior, in my view.
I expect to convince no one, but . . . shrug. Just sharing my view.
By the way, Police go through hundreds of thousands, if not millions of encounters with the public in a year (my guess, numbers from anyone would help) and the pool of police officers is a very large one, varied, with different funding, training, and facing different local challenges.
NOTE: I AM NOT DEFENDING THIS DOUCHEBAG. Just trying to keep an even keel before I go condemning LARGE groups for the behavior of a minority or significant minority. Using this same half baked logic, I can say Islam is institutionally a terrorist religion, too. RIGHT???? Oh wait. That’s stereotyping. Not good.
This is awful, but unfortunately not to far from home. A similar thing happened to my GORA bf. In Philly, he was attacked by 2 plain clothed park rangers (which happen to be federal officers). Even though he asked to see I.D. they took it personal, and beat the shit out of him. They accused him of using drugs and attacking an officer. He was charged with TWO counts of Assault and Battery, reckless endangerment of a police officer, and resisting arrest (which means 2 felonies). And then on top of that the city charged him with stuff. After he spent 24 hours in jail, they took him to traffic court for unpaid tickets…too bad he doesn’t have a car and is from MD. There just happened to be someone in Philly with the same name but they’re too stupid to figure it out. We tried to fight it, but all we could do is have everything expunged and HE had to do community service and go to anger management!!
The point is cops are assholes and can do ANYTHING they want. One of them even told my bf that he thought his neck would hurt in the morning…F them all. I hope the Nag’s fare better and get this guy.
Damn, Dheeraj. I AM cool. And I would have been happy to meet you, at Tryst or elsewhere despite your regrettable views about people in my family, who mean the world to me, whom you have never met. You are allowed to find my sister’s life “sad”, just like I’m allowed to feel that you’re an intolerant person who needs to think before he types.
I’m sorry that you’ve had terrible experiences, but they don’t give you the right to look down on me or my sister for being clueless patriots. Your way isn’t the only way, nor is it necessarily right. I stand by what I wrote earlier: Shame on you. Now please don’t derail this thread any further– I want justice for Mr. Nag, not a pointless debate with you.
Gentlemen don’t kiss and tell– you’re out of here.
Just dropped off the news tip at Drudge Report.com While I’m all for more information because there are a few things in this press release that seem ‘off’, I’m hoping this will make it on there.
It’s simple human psychology that when we have a great investment in something — be it large financial investment in a material item, long-term emotional investment in a spouse, or (as in this case) great attachment and love/respect for the decisions of a sibling — we are naturally very, very inclined to fight to the death to defend the position, point of view, decision that we’ve made. So it is with one who has a sister in the US military.
Anna, I think your idealism and your belief in The Great American Experiment is laudable, but in 2007, it’s beginning to be anachronistic and something less than appropriate. All great empires have fallen, and this one will be no different.
No, my experiences with jackbooted government thugs invading my private property don’t give me the “right” to “look down” on your sister, but they do give me some perspective, as does my lifelong history of having a critical eye always pointed at “my” government. I know a little too much history to be Pollyanna-ish about the current state of affairs (where “current” means “much of the last century”), or to have romantic notions about what the real purpose of the military is, and who really calls the shots and tells the military where to go and what to do, and for whose interests to sacrifice their lives.
You don’t show love for a child by letting him/her do whatever he/she wants, then throwing up your hands and saying “well, he/she’s my child; love it or leave it!” You get mad and discipline the kid as needed, to make sure he/she becomes a good person later in life. The same applies to any country we call home.
But instead, I’m the narrow-minded, ungrateful, “unpatriotic” asshole. (shrug)
I know it must thrill you to no end to paint yourself the martyr even as you patronize me in so many smugly condescending ways, but enough. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m trying to create awareness for something here and it’s not your views on the military. Stop it.
Take it offline if you must, but I refuse to engage you further– either stay on topic or please keep it off this thread. Your views about me, my sister, whether desis should be in the military? OFF-TOPIC. Thanks.
Dheeraj,
The FBI came to your house early in the morning twice? Why?