Chicago, USA— On the evening of September 8th, Inderjit Singh Mukker, a Sikh American resident in the Darien suburb of Chicago, was viciously assaulted after the assailant pulled up to his car yelling racial slurs, including, “Terrorist, go back to your country, Bin Laden!”
Despite clear hate crime evidence and verbal indications by the Darien Police Department throughout the week that the assailant was going to be charged with a hate crime, the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office just announced that no hate crime charges will be brought against the offender, who will be tried in juvenile court. This disappointing decision directly contradicts Illinois hate crimes law, which states that a person commits a hate crime when by reason of actual or perceived race or religion, and regardless of the existence of any other motivating factor or factors, commits an assault, battery or an aggravated assault.
“You cannot address the problem of hate in this nation if you refuse to acknowledge its existence,” said the Sikh Coalition’s Legal Director, Harsimran Kaur. “This announcement is shocking and a completely unacceptable decision by the DuPage County prosecutor. If Illinois is going to drop the ball, then we demand that the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecute the offender under federal hate crime law immediately.”
Mr. Mukker, a U.S. citizen and father of two, was on his way to the grocery store when the assailant began to racially taunt him and aggressively and repeatedly cut off his vehicle. Mr. Mukker pulled over to the side of the road to let him pass, but the driver instead pulled in front of his car and aggressively approached Mr. Mukker’s vehicle. The assailant then reached into the car and repeatedly punched Mr. Mukker in the face, causing him to lose consciousness, bleed profusely and suffer a fractured cheekbone and a laceration to his cheek. He was rushed to the hospital, where he received six stitches, treatment for lacerations, bruising and swelling.
“This was not a simple case of road rage,” said Harsimran Kaur. “In fact, in my many years of representing hate crime victims, the hate crimes charge is as clear and as obvious as it gets. To ignore the racial element of the crime sends a clear message that State’s Attorney Robert Berlin is not interested in protecting vulnerable communities.”
Sikhs wear their articles of faith (including a turban and beard) to show their commitment to justice, equality and the rights of all. While Sikhs have been an integral part of the American fabric for over 125 years, the community has faced disproportionate discrimination and targeted hate crimes in the 14 years since 9/11.
“I am appalled and disgusted by this decision,” said the victim, Mr. Mukker. “What happened to me on Tuesday night is the definition of hate.”
US govt really a druthers, the community who is almost driving their economy they are doing injustice with them!