Five of Rajinder Singh Khalsa’s attackers were just acquitted on hate crime charges (thanks, Dave). Two were convicted of assault, but the hate crime acquittals sure look like a miscarriage of justice:
A Queens judge rendered mostly not guilty verdicts Monday in the trial of five men accused of attacking a Sikh man in Richmond Hill. All were acquitted of the hate crime charge. Two defendants were found guilty of second degree assault while three others were found guilty only of aggravated harassment…Queens Supreme Court Justice Seymour Rotker, who conducted the non-jury trial, suggested he didn’t believe at least one of the witnesses and appeared skeptical at the evidence as he rendered the verdict… Rotker said there was “conflicting testimony as to who did what and how” during the July 11, 2004 beating… Police said Khalsa was attacked by the men who were at a christening at a catering hall next to an Indian restaurant. [Link]
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p>DNSI summarizes the attack:
The incident began when the defendants remarked, in reference to Khalsa’s turban, “Look, somebody stole my curtains” and “Why did you steal my sheets from my house?”“One of the defendants, Ryan Meehan, yelled, ‘Give me my curtain.'”
Singh told the presiding judge that he asked Meehan, “What do you mean, ‘Give me my curtain?'”
Moments later, another defendant, Terence Lyons, said “You still here?…. Go to your home. Go to your country.” To which one of the Sikh men replied, “[T]his is my country. This is my home, too.”
The perpetrators then began assaulting Khalsa, fractured his left eye socket, continued to kick his body while he was unconscious, and left him for dead. [Link]
Honest, judge, those weren’t punches, those were love taps. And those aren’t black eyes, he’s just low on sleep.
Yeah right, the attackers specifically and mockingly taunt him about his turban and perceived foriegness and ethnicity but the attack wasn’t racially motivated? WOW, and Tom DeLay wasn’t involved in a conspiracy to launder money (money laundering charges are still on the table).
Funny that these stories never make the news for some reason. A group of Muslims beat up a tourist in Amsterdam and half the blogosphere has coniptions for months on end (granted it was a stupid and ridiculous act of violence). Somehow I can’t see Andrew Sullivan or Michelle Malkin getting their panties in a bunch over this.
Lesson – its usually not worth trying to reason with assholes and say stuff like ‘this is my country’ blah blah blah. Flip them the bird, tell em to fuck off and go about your business. Trying to reason with pussies just lets them think they can get away with something.
Flip them the bird, tell em to fuck off and go about your business.
That wouldn’t be the most advisable action either. It merely provides them with an excuse for aggravation (other than their primary intent). Those pathetic evolutionary dropouts would have had the intention of hurting Rajinder-ji regardless of how he would have reacted.
As opposed to pulling your pants down and bending over???????
I disagree. The dude didnt give them any reason to attack him in the first place, but they still did.
Absolutely, which is why you need to learn to defend your self. I am not advocating violence, but if you insist on inflicting pain on me, the least I could do is repay you back in kind. That would be the polite thing to do.
mrt,
As opposed to pulling your pants down and bending over???????
When I proferred the notion that telling them to fuck off when instigated as an unadvisable course of action, it was in no way meant to be construed to be an offer for sodomy. Rhetoric aside, verbally abusing them could have exacerbated the situation to have even more dire consequences. That was merely what I was trying to imply. And as much as self-defence would have helped him, a broken justice system as reflected by this case could very well have turned against the him. In fact he probably would have had a misdemeanor for the fracas that ensues while he’s defending himself, and the primary issue of racial aggravation gets further muddled. Fox News Channel would have a field day with that, “Turbaned man breaks arms of patrons at christening”. It’s a lose-lose situation if you’re brown, even if you wear a turban and knew jeet-kune-do.
If in self defense, that would be awesome. Kung-fu uncles!
That’s just gut-churning.
I found this quote from the little nicky link pithy… just reposting for general consumption.
American Desis need to learn how to riot… nobody cares about polite brown folks… how about some morchas?
What we need is a South-Asian Anti Defamation League. See ADL And we need articulate community leaders to can hold press conferences, in conjunction with the victim and their family, in order to call attention to these problems.
A Sikh family in our area had their house vandalized a few years ago. They called the cops and the cops said it wasn’t a hate crime because there weren’t any swastikas. Apparently lots of local law enforcement believe that it has to be anti-Semitic to be a hate crime. Although press conferences won’t change the verdict they can help educate the general public.
This really hits me because its such an assualt on dignity. Its not only a cruel physical act and an act of hate, but it affects your pride. Perhaps that sounds superficial, but thats what really gets to me. When people younger than you get this social power over you, they can reduce you to something small so effortlessly by using particular words. . . I think of my dad, my mom, (and me when I was growing up and too shy/embarrased/scared to object to taunts). It makes you feel like you have no agency, which is of course not true:
I’ve been inspired by protests of solidarity like this.
reporting hate crimes.. here’s a start.
I’ve been reading about this fellow, and everytime i see his pic, i just want to come and give him a hug. i feel for him, i’d love to find a way to be twice as kind, twice as good to him to counteract the ignorance of those who terrorized him. he doesn’t deserve what they did to him at all. he he seems sssoooo sweet and harmless, i can’t see how anyone with any sense in their heads would want to harm him, except to fees some insane mental isues which are not due to this lovely fella’s actions. the poor guy really should have pressed charges. these arseholes could hurt others. he’d be doing others a favour. it’s sad because i know many people who cjoose to act with ignorance, soem towards sikhs, others to anyone they dislike, and i never can see any good point to it. tehse people just show how depraved, horrid, and not amusing they are. they show just the opposite of the reaction they want to give.
My goodness Dhavaak, that’s a good link. I had no idea Reena Virk was cigarette burned on her forehead. If that’s not racially motivated, I don’t know what is. Ughh… I feel sick. We have to encourage people to come forward with their stories and organize rather than just going about with our daily, safe lives.
i sure welcome him with open arms in MY part of the country. I could probably learn a lot from him, and would be more than pleased to.
another thing that gets me is the boys who beat the living snot of out this guy are tring to claim that he harrassed them. they don’t give any good case for it, and from the comments i read, he sounded like he tried to be as polite as possible, and tried to mind his own beeswax, and this ignorant little turds wouldn’t leave him be. they wanted to start trouble, and then want to seem innocent. they ahve some serious mental isues, and it makes me sick to read that the judge and defense wants to follow their side. they are willing to believe a lie, because godforbid they side with a sikh fellow, or godforbid they side with someone who others wouldnt find popular. these views of ‘so called morality’ in our soceity make me sick as all get out. (and i don’t care what their chronologic ages are, if they wish to act this way, they’re a bunch of little snots with a peter pan complex, who need to be tuaght a thing or three about respect for all people, and to stop making stupid excuses to cover their own faults.)i pray that rajinder has healed physically, and that he will get the proper respect and kindness deserves, so that he can feel better mntally and emotionally. i know if i was every lucky enough to meet him, i’d be glad to ensure he got some from me. he’s more than welcome in MY country, as is anyone who is respectful of others, no matter what they wear, or how they look, especially with their turbans. and for those who aren’t, they are welcome when they learn to be. that’s the way the cookie crumbles.
sure is a good link, and i agree. i bookmarked it.
Pattie Kaur
It might be an idea to write a letter to this gentleman – you obviously feel passionate about it and I’m sure your words of support would mean a lot to him.
My friend and colleague, Valarie Kaur, interviewed Mr. Khalsa earlier this summer. Sadly, Mr. Khalsa came to the United States after he was tortured following the 1984 violence.
I hope you will take a few moments to read this interview. For those of you who are interested, such as Pattie Kaur perhaps, contact Valarie for more information on how to connect with Mr. Khalsa and others. The Sikh Coalition, which has advised Mr. Khalsa, is also another good resource.
If you cannot reach Valarie, feel free to email me instead and I will relay your message.
I searched Google for post-trial coverage and came across this article from the New York Post. The article is entitled:
TURBAN RAP UNRAVELS .
Now, the article addresses a trial in which a man was verbally harassed on account of his turban and, according to Mr. Khalsa, his turban was “throw[n]… on the sidewalk.”
Still, the publication used that particular title. Sure, these facts, as alleged, did not rise to a legally cognizable hate crime. However, the publication still, in my view, should exhibit some journalistic professionalism, given how sensitive this matter is and how delicate racial issues are generally.
in case folks missed this the first time around.
Or how about a poem
If only our Sardarjee was beaten up by some black or Muslim thugs! The right wing nuts would be all over the news.
I want to write a letter of protest to the New York Post. However, I’m not that good in letter writing. If someone is planning on also writing to them I’d like to use thier letter as a guide or if someone can list key points to discuss. thanks.
dirichlet, you’re probably right that it is not the most advisable course of action to provoke them further, however most of these cretons only attack people who they think won’t stand up for themselves.
BTW, it wouldn’t be ‘turbaned man attacks…’
it would be ‘Radical Islamofacist attacks…’ 🙂
Pattie Kaur
It might be an idea to write a letter to this gentleman – you obviously feel passionate about it and I’m sure your words of support would mean a lot to him.
and to dave too,
thank you! i would be most glad to contact him and let him know that i care. i am very passionate about this, i truly cnnot stand such actions, especially on innocent people, no mater who they are…but especially since it seems the in thing to beat up on sikhs, it makes me really peturbed. i’ve not met a nasty sikh yet. moreover, they’re always very kind, and good people, and i have nothing but respect for them. this poor fella could have been my uncle ruby, and i just can’t bear such a thought. and no one deserves to be hurt, esepcially soemone who seems so docile and kindly. that just tears me up.
I’m still not sold on the whole idea of “hate crime” legislation. Would these guys have deserved any lesser punishment if they’d beaten him up in the course of an ordinary mugging or carjacking?
“Hate crime” legislation is not all that different from laws that turn perfectly legal activity into a crime or allow for increased penalities for crimes simply due to the status or class of victim, such as statutory “rape” or “stalking” – its perfectly legal for me to park in a lawful parking spot in front of your house everday but in some states its a “crime.”
This is crap. I don’t have words to express my anguish. It is unimaginably painful to be attacked for just existing the way you exist. Poor uncleji, why!
I think the thugs were spoiling for an easy fight + plus any genuine homophobia. I doubt very much they’d have messed with Dalip Singh or Dara Singh etc. This country has had a long history of ethnically motivated crimes. I am not shocked that the goons weren’t successfully prosecuted under hate crimes. This country is FAR behind in understanding how rising ‘new’ ethnicities are different and how their customs, religions, appearance etc. plays into the hate crime situation. I believe the understanding of why something might be a hate crime is very euro-based and color-based. Hence calling someone nigger or jew is certainly racist but calling turbans diapers or ‘my curtains’, or spraying ‘Hindu’ on a home isn’t. Yet.
The other angle is – this general ignorance about the diversity in the world is more survivable for the idiots in US because of what someone said earlier – so much power, and misplaced nationalism. The world really needs to be multi-polar for anyone to behave, really.
This rant aside, does anyone have a way to contact this uncleji? I’d like to write a letter to him.
You mean xenophobia?
Scroll up to the post above by Dave where he tells you of how you might be able to get an e-mail letter or message passed on to Uncle Rajinder
yes – it does sound like those nits just had prejiduce against him. they had come from a christening drunk, which made matters worse, and i think you’re right, mr. malaprop – they were indeed just looking for a fight, or loking to cause trouble, and he seemed the perfect target. then, they made matters worse by lying and having the judge and jury side with them.
when i first read his story months ago, i had tears in my eyes. it sounds corney, but it’s true. i had also read about the sikh fllow who was killed in arizona around the same time.
sad and angry is also quite right, well put post.
and, additionally, we need to start standing up, and fidning positive ways to teach people that what they’r doing is wrong. It amazes me that these people scream out terorist when they see people like poor rajinder, and what they don’t realise, is that THEY THEMSELVES ARE THE TERRORISTS. When they take the idea to harm or kill someone just because of they way they look, especially when the innocent victim has done nothing to hut them, and continues, after the situation to do no harm to them, THEY are the terrorists. And, they aren’t anything to cheer at…they just show what a sad country we really have, especailly when people like rajinder have come to this country to contribute to the good of it, and to raise their families – people who are the polar opposite of terrorist. These people are what make the country great, and deserve to have respect in THEIR country too. This is just common sense. And I don’t care what religion, what affilation with whatever you have, it is our right as living beings to be respected, no matter what we are – brown, black, white, yellow, gren, paisly spotted, plaid, sikh, jew, hindu, muslim, christian, straight, bi, gay, young, old, whatever…..we are all living creatures who deserve respect and it is our duty to respect others, no matter what. we are not above anyone else, and have no rights to feel that we can treat others like shit, no matter where we are or who we are. 😉 and these hate crimes serve as a model for other acts of injustice, and how we can deal with them properly. and how we can work for the benefit of all people.
pattie
does anyone know if the gentleman survived? i hope so.
Sikh Community Reacts To Hate Crime Acquittal In Beating Of Priest
dave, thanks for the update.
Mr.Malaprop, Indeed, xeno, not homo. Thanks!
The five men were sentenced on Thursday.
Thanks, Dave. Here’s a story with full text:
Imagine these guys showing up for work at the Sikh Coalition…
glad they got sentencing…soemthing still needs to be done. these hate crimes keep going on without much to stop them. is there a way to join the sikh coalition? rajinder just sounds more and more wonderful, the more i read of him. he’s a rolemeodel, and i wish him all the best.
Hi I am Kyle I am not a Sikh But I Love and Respect Sikhs
As of for the bastards who beat this poor Sikh Should get the electric chair They should bring the Good OL Guillotine back and chop their heads off for it
They should got attempted murder charges
Every day I find out some poor Sikh,Hindu or some poor Indian Got beat up I am tired of living in a society where people hate eachother I will not live here any more!!!
I mean really look at the poor Sikh he is hurt and in pain physically and emotionally. do you want to hug him:-)? I want to hug Rajinder Singh Khalsa He came to this country and he didn’t receive the welcome wagon instead he received a bunch of knucklsanswiches and a bunch of boots and shoes shuved in his gut,back,and ass:-(
And if your Rajinder Singh Khalsa Reading this comment
I Love you Rajinder a kiss and hug to you Rajinder:-) I hope you get well soon Rajinder I Love you and Love,happiness,and peace be with you Rajinder Singh Khalsa