SWC Denounces Shooting Attack Targeting Sikhs

March 7, 2017

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is appalled by the apparent hate-motivated shooting of a Sikh in his driveway in Kent, Washington late last week. “Go back to your country,” he was told before he was shot. The victim, who wore the traditional Sikh beard and turban, is a US citizen. The attack came in the wake of other crimes against Indians, including the fatal shooting of an Indian engineer in Kansas in late February who had similarly been asked by his assailant about the legality of his employment. (He, and a friend who was wounded but survived, were both working legally.)

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Center, observed, “Such attacks escalate the growing hatred all around us, from social media to the targeting of religious institutions and members of religious and ethnic minorities,” Rabbi Cooper noted, adding “Americans must be proactive in combating hate, demanding action from the social media giants, and in creating new coalitions with our neighbors."

Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, the Center’s Director of Interfaith Affairs, said that the Wiesenthal Center had been in touch with leaders of the Sikh community in Southern California, offering solidarity and support.

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The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).