Shooting of Sikh man stirs fear, disbelief
The FBI will help investigate the shooting of a Sikh man in his suburban Seattle driveway, a crime that has shaken the Sikh community.
KENT, Wash. — The FBI will help investigate the shooting of a Sikh man who said a gunman approached him as he worked on his car in his suburban Seattle driveway and told him “go back to your own country,” authorities said Sunday.
Kent Police Chief Ken Thomas said no arrests have yet been made after the victim was shot in the arm Friday night about 20 miles south of Seattle but that he did not believe anyone was in imminent danger.
“This is a top priority investigation, and we are doing everything possible to identify and arrest the suspect,” Thomas said in an email, adding that the city of about 120,000 should “be vigilant.”
It comes after an Indian man was killed and another wounded in a recent shooting at a Kansas bar that federal agencies are investigating as a hate crime after the suspect yelled “get out of my country.”
Hira Singh, a Sikh community leader, said there have been increasing complaints recently from Sikhs near Seattle who say they have been the target of foul language or other comments.
“This kind of incident shakes up the whole community,” he said, adding that about 50,000 members of the faith live in the state.
India’s foreign minister, Sushma Swaraj, identified the victim on Twitter early Sunday, saying, “I am sorry to know about the attack on Deep Rai, a U.S. national of Indian origin.”
She said she had spoken to Rai’s father, who told her Rai is out of danger and recovering in a hospital.
Rai told police a man he didn’t know came up to him Friday night and they got into an argument, with the suspect telling Rai to go back to his homeland. He described the shooter as 6 feet tall and white with a stocky build, police said. He said the man was wearing a mask covering the lower half of his face.
Sikhs have previously been the target of assaults in the U.S. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the backlash that hit Muslims around the country expanded to include those of the Sikh faith. Men often wear turbans, which are considered sacred, and refrain from shaving their beards.
The Sikh Coalition, a national civil rights group, asked local and federal authorities to investigate the shooting in suburban Seattle as a hate crime.
“It was disheartening to see it happening here in my community,” Satwinder Kaur said. “Kent is a very diverse community.”
“When someone says, ‘Get out of my country,’ it’s a hate crime, there’s no question,” Kaur said. “The community has been shaken up.”