Hate crime: Sikh assaulted in US

New York, January 20

A Sikh man has been brutally assaulted in an alleged hate crime by a white man who pulled his beard and kicked and punched him in the face at a store in the US, the latest such incident in the country.

Harwinder Singh Dodd, who was working at a convenience store in the US state of Oregon, was racially targeted on Monday by 24-year-old Andrew Ramsey.

Ramsey targeted Dodd because of his perception of the employee’s religion, FOX 12 TV news reported, citing a court document.

Ramsey wanted rolling papers for cigarettes, but did not have an ID and the clerk would not sell them to him, Justin Brecht, a legislative policy adviser in the Oregon State Capitol and a former combat Marine, was quoted as saying by the report.

When Dodd asked Ramsey to leave, he attacked him by pulling his beard, punching him in the face, pulling him to the ground and kicking him, Brecht said, adding that they held Ramsey down until officers got there.

Ramsey has been charged with hate crime assault, police said, adding that he threw his shoe at Dodd and tried to steal his head covering. He was also charged with assault in the fourth degree, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass.

Hate crimes increased by 40 per cent in Oregon from 2016 to 2017, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In August 2018, in about a week, two Sikh men were brutally assaulted in the US state of California that raised concerns over increasing incidents of hate crimes in the country.

Last year, the South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) published a report documenting a 45 per cent increase in hate violence and rhetoric against Indians, Sikhs, and South Asian Americans from the year prior. — PTI

Accused faces 4th Degree charge

• Andrew Ramsey, 24, racially targeted Harwinder Singh Dodd, who was working at a convenience store in Oregon, on Monday. He attacked him because of his perception of the employee’s religion

• Ramsey has been charged with hate crime assault. He was also charged with assault in the fourth degree, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass

• Hate crimes increased by 40 per cent in the US state of  Oregon from 2016 to 2017, according to Federal Bureau of Investigation