An American man, who brutally hit an 82-year-old Sikh with a steel rod outside a gurdwara in California two years ago, has been sentenced to 13 years in prison on charges of hate crime.
Piara Singh had just finished preparing meals for the 'langar' (community kitchen) when Gilbert Garcia spotted him outside a Southwest Fresno gurdwara. Garcia screamed something about the Taliban and Muslims as he attacked Piara Singh.
Local prosecutors treated the incident that took place on May 5, 2013 as a hate crime. Piara Singh was hospitalised for more than a week with head wounds, broken ribs and lung lacerations. "It stands to reason from common sense that anyone who would engage in this type of horrific behaviour would be someone who is classified as not necessarily being normal," said Fresno County superior court judge Alvin Harrell III.
"The bottom line is justice was meted out today and in our community, if you're going to commit a hate crime, you're going to go to prison," said prosecutor Tim Donovan.
"Justice has been served. Not only does the victim and his family have closure, but so does the entire Sikh community because there was an acknowledgement that a hate crime occurred," Ike Grewal, a local Sikh community activist, told local media outlets.
{{/usCountry}}"Justice has been served. Not only does the victim and his family have closure, but so does the entire Sikh community because there was an acknowledgement that a hate crime occurred," Ike Grewal, a local Sikh community activist, told local media outlets.
{{/usCountry}}According to Grewal, Garcia made racial slurs against Muslims and told Piara Singh: "I'm going to destroy your mosque". Sikhs he said, continue to be mistaken as terrorists because the media tends to show instances of terrorist attacks and images of the terrorists wearing turbans.