Black man hits 32-yr-old Sikh with hammer in US
NEW YORK: A Sikh man was attacked with a hammer by a black assailant who shouted at him “I don’t like you” and “You’re not the same skin” at a hotel in Brooklyn here, prompting a prominent New-york based advocacy group to call on investigators to examine if the assault was a hate crime incident.
Sumit Ahluwalia, 32, of Astoria has said his assailant was fuelled by racial hatred, according to a report on New York Daily News website.
Ahluwalia said the man, a black, assaulted him on April 26 at his workplace, the Quality Inn in Brownsville.
He said the man came into the lobby of the hotel at around 8am and started shouting while the front desk lady asked him if he needed help.
Ahluwalia stepped into the lobby to speak with the man and to seek the hotel security guard. At that point, the assailant “started running towards me, very fast, and he put his hand in the pocket — I thought, ‘He’s pulling out a gun,’’ the report said.
Pleading with the man, the victim said, “What happened? You’re my brother.”
The attacker responded “You’re not the same skin,” Ahluwalia said, adding that the man then “banged on my head with the hammer so hard.” The assailant then screamed, “I don’t like you,” and ran away, according to the report.
“I couldn’t sleep. I had a big bump on my head. I could fall — feeling dizziness, and the next morning I went to the doctor,” he said, adding that five days later, he was still feeling anxious and fearful.
Police have released pictures of the suspect, who was still being sought.
Advocacy group The Sikh Coalition said its legal team is providing free legal services to Ahluwalia.