HATE BACKLASH Since Sept. 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack

Asian Pacific American Legal Center

Arizona

• Mesa, AZ:

First-degree murder charge filed in shooting of Mesa Sikh, Balbir Singh Sodhi, 49. A charge of first-degree murder has been added to the charges against a man accused of killing an Indian-American immigrant gas station owner in one of three shootings yesterday. Forty-two-year-old Frank Roque (Rohkh) is also charged with attempted murder in the two other attacks and three counts of drive-by shooting. Saad Saad, 35, of Scottsdale, is the owner of the Mobil station where the second shooting occurred, at 3565 South Val Vista Drive. He said the shooter aimed at the clerk, a male of Lebanese descent. Saad said the clerk does not have dark skin and was dressed in a Mobil uniform. Roque made his initial court appearance today and bond was set at one (m) million dollars. Police were investigating the possibility that the crimes were motivated by Tuesday's terror attacks in New York and Washington. The first shooting killed Balbir Singh Sodhi, 49, an immigrant from India. Police were continuing their investigation to determine whether to add hate crimes charges. The 49-year-old Sodhi was a Sikh. The East Valley Tribune reported that Roque shouted, "I stand for America all the way," as he was handcuffed Saturday night. The family believes the shooting was a hate crime. (AP, 9/17/01; SacBee, 9/18/01)
• Muslim student at Arizona State University was attacked. (Source: By Kelly Ettenborough, Adam Klawonn and Christina Leonard, The Arizona Republic, Sept. 17, 2001)

California

Ceres:
• In the Central Valley town of Ceres, police are investigating the death of an elderly Sikh man whose body was found in a canal Tuesday. It was unclear whether the man was murdered or died of natural causes. Surjit Singh Samra, 69, left for his daily walk Sunday morning, but never returned to the family's home in Ceres, which is just outside Modesto. Samra was diabetic and recently had a stroke. But his family is convinced he was a victim of an anti-Sikh attack. ``He had a turban on,'' said Davinder Singh Samra, who identified his father's body at the canal. (Source: Foo, Levey, Bazeley, San Jose Mercury News, 09/19/01)

Fremont:
• Afghan restaurant in Fremont was attacked with bottles and rocks. (Source: Mangaliman, SJ Mercury News, 9/18/01)

Los Angeles:
• Adel Karas, 48, of Arcadia was struck in the upper body and killed point-blank. He was shot at the International Market, a store he owned. The family believes Karas was targeted because he was Egyptian American and mistaken as a Muslim American. No money was taken, but the attack has been classified as a robbery. (Source: LA Times, 09/17/01)
• Two suspects wrote "die" on a Persian Club booth on the campus of Pierce College in Woodland Hills. An altercation ensued between the suspects and one or two "Persian" students, Voyer said, but the victims did not press charges. (Source: Yokota e-mail, NBC-4 News, 9/14/01)
• At USC, some Muslim students have been harassed and some Muslim women have had their veils pulled off, according to Sarah Eltantawi of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. (Source: Yokota e-mail, NBC-4 News, 9/14/01)
• Two cases of vandalism; one assault with a deadly weapon, in which a gun was put to a woman's face; and an "annoying" phone call to the Southern California Islamic Center in the Rampart area. (Source: Yokota e-mail, NBC-4 News, 9/14/01)
• A Pakistani Muslim living in LA was at the Glendale Galleria Mall around lunchtime and upon his return to the parking lot found his Integra type R car scratched across the right side with the words 'Nuke em' written all over it. Reported to Glendale Police. (Source: Zainyc@aol.com e-mail, 9/14/01)
• Sept. 12: Two woman are speaking Spanish as they wait in a doctor's office. A Caucasian woman yells, "you foreigners caused all this trouble," and begins to beat on one of the women. Channel 34 reports several other similar calls have come into their station. (Source: LA Commission on Human Relations)
• Hall of Records, Los Angeles, Thursday, Sept. 13: Sign in the elevator says, "Kill all towel heads." (Source: LA Commission on Human Relations)
• Los Angeles, Friday, Sept. 14: A young Persian woman is eating lunch with a friend who jokingly calls her an Arab. A young woman sitting next to them follows them out of the restaurant, asks the woman if she is Arab, and punches her in the eye. (Source: LA Commission on Human Relations)
• Long Beach: Friday, Sept. 14, Anti-Israeli graffiti was found on a home at Woodruff Avenue & Conant Street. Local newspaper accounts that day indicate there have been 12 incidents in Long Beach since Tuesday, the same amount reported in all of last year. (Source: LA Commission on Human Relations)
• San Gabriel: Monday, Sept. 17: A woman wearing Muslim clothing was shopping at the Albertson's on Garey and Foothill. A Caucasian woman began attacking her and yelled, "America is only for white people." The victim was taken to emergency. (Source: LA Commission on Human Relations)
• Beverly Hills: Monday, Sept. 17: Two women were ordering at a bagel store. One was wearing a Koranic charm--a verse from the Koran--on her neck. They sat down in front of 3 people-two men and one woman. The woman noticed the victim's charm and said, "Look what you people have done to my people" and lunged at the victim. She was held back by one of the men with her. The victim called police and the woman continued to make derogatory omments. No one who was in the store tried to help. In fact, when it was all over, the owner went over to the perpetrators and offered to pack their lunch and apologized for any inconvenience. The victim is very shaken.
• Palmdale, Monday, Sept. 17: Reports of shots fired into a convenience store.
• Monday, Sept. 17: A sign on the freeway says, "Kill all Arabs."

Napa:
• The day after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Dale Singh, manager of a fast-food restaurant in Napa, found his car's finish and windows scratched and scraped. (Source: Lochner, Contra Costa Times, 09/19/01)

Sacramento:
• Sikh temple in West Sacramento was vandalized. (Source: Lewin & Goodstein article, NY Times, 09/18/01)

San Diego
• On Sunday evening, 9/16/01, an explosion from what was probably a cherry bomb on the sidewalk outside the Islamic Center of San Diego forced worshipers to evacuate the building during a prayer service. (Source: LA Times, 9/18/01).

San Francisco
• Vandals threw a bag of blood on the doorstep of a San Francisco immigration center Minority Assistance Services in San Francisco's Mission District, which serves many Mideast immigrants. An unknown person called a paralegal there at about 2:30 p.m. and said he had left a package "for your brother Osama bin Laden." (Source: Kim article, SF Chronicle, 9/13/01)
• A Pacifica man's car -- and its "Free Palestine" sticker -- was vandalized. (Source: Kim article, SF Chronicle, 9/13/01)
• Police were checking a report that a Palestinian boy was beaten up in San Francisco. (Source: Kim article, SF Chronicle, 9/13/01)
• Maha ElGenaidi, executive director of the Islamic Network Group in San Jose, said she received two threats to her organization Tuesday. Yesterday, she fielded more than seven threatening calls and e-mails. One of them threatened my life and the lives of all Muslims. And others were saying, 'Get the hell out of the country. You ruined the country, and you will all die,' " ElGenaidi said. (Source: Kim article, SF Chronicle, 9/13/01)
• Sean Fernandes, a 26-year old Indian Catholic, said he was walking with a white Australian friend early Saturday morning, when a man came up, called him a "dirty Arab," and punched him and the friend. The attacker also allegedly directed an ethnic slur at Clarke and told him, ``Your friend is Arab, and we kill Arabs.'' His friend was stabbed in the ensuing brawl and remains hospitalized in critical condition. "I've lived in this country for eight years, and felt at home here, but this makes me re-evaluate," said Mr. Fernandes, a software engineer. "I'm completely shocked. I've always thought people here were very tolerant, but I guess tough times bring out their true colors." (Source: Lewin & Goodstein article, NY Times, 09/18/01; Foo, Levey, Bazeley, San Jose Mercury News, 09/19/01)

San Mateo:
• A gasoline bomb was thrown through the window of a Sikh family's home, hitting a 3-year-old on the head, but not exploding. (Source: Lewin & Goodstein article, NY Times, 09/18/01)

Stockton:
• Amarjit Singh Dadwal, a Sikh, described being shouted at and called an "Iraqi" by four or five white teens and adults in a van Tuesday. The Sikh Temple on South Grant Street in Stockton, which dates back to 1906, is the oldest such temple in the United States. The existing building, with a large, airy room carpeted in bright blue and red, was built in 1929.There are an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 Sikhs in San Joaquin County. (Bott article, The Record, 9/14/01)

Colorado

Buggie and Pinky Bajwa, Sikh Americans, awoke Thursday morning, 9/13/01, to find the word ``Terrorists'' sprayed in red paint across their family's driveway and ``Terrist on board'' written on their white car. (Source: AP Article, 9/18/01)

Illinois

Chicago
9/12/01, police in Bridgeview, Ill., turned back 300 marchers -- some waving American flags and shouting "USA! USA!" _ as they tried to march on a mosque in the Chicago suburb. Three demonstrators were arrested. There were no injuries and demonstrators were kept blocks from the closed Muslim house of worship. "I'm proud to be American and I hate Arabs and I always have," said 19-year-old Colin Zaremba who marched with the group from Oak Lawn. (Source: Coffee article, AP, 9/13/01)

In Chicago, a firebomb was tossed 09/12/01 at an Arab-American community center. (Source: Coffee article, AP, 9/13/01)

In nearby Palos Heights, a man who used the blunt end of a machete to attack a Moroccan gas station attendant was charged with a hate crime, police said. The attendant did not seek treatment. (Source: Coffee article, AP, 9/13/01)

Indiana:

A man in a ski mask in Gary, Ind., fired an assault rifle at a gas station where a Yemen-born U.S. citizen born was working Wednesday, 9/12/01, the Post Tribune of Merrillville, Ind., reported. Police were investigating it as a hate crime. (Source: Coffee article, AP, 9/13/01)

New Jersey:

Vandals attacked two Indian owned businesses in Collingswood, N.J. The vandals sprayed painted "leave town" (9/12/01).

New York:

2 Pakistanis killed in Coney Island (Source: CAAAV e-mail, 9/17/01)

In Richmond Hills, NY, Attar Singh Bhatia was severely injured and hospitalized when he was attacked with a baseball bat (9/11/01). (Source IACFPA e-mail, 9/18/01)

In Richmond Hills, NY, two Sikh Americans were attacked with a paint ball gun. The police arrested two men. (9/11/01). (Source IACFPA e-mail, 9/18/01)

In Richmond Hills, NY, a gurdwara was fired upon with rubber bullets. An arrest was made when the individual returned the following morning. (9/11/01) (Source IACFPA e-mail, 9/18/01)

On Sept. 11, Amrik Singh Chawla, a South Asian American (Sikh), was chased by a group of four men yelling "terrorist." They chased him for four blocks. He was unharmed, but is deeply shaken by the entire incident. (Source IACFPA e-mail, 9/17/01)

Meera Kumar, who, on Wednesday, was racially profiled and harassed by police on a Boston-NY train, along with other South Asians and Arabs.?(Source: nmemon e-mail, 9/16/01)

One of the Sikh participants was giving a TV interview outside the restaurant when a man pushing a baby stroller walked by, stopped and started yelling at him, saying, "You Islamic mosquitoes should be killed." It was caught on tape by Rohit Vyas and Pankaj Kumar of TV Asia, who have been running it on the air. Rohit's e-mail: vyas@mindspring.com (Source: nmemon e-mail, 9/16/01)

Human rights commission reports at least 3 attacks (1 Pakistani, 2 Arab) in suffolk county. (Source: CAAAV e-mail, 9/17/01)

Taxi driver pulled out and beaten. (Source: CAAAV e-mail, 9/17/01)

In Huntington, N.Y., a 75-year-old man who was drunk tried to run over a Pakistani woman in the parking lot of a shopping mall, police said. The man then followed the woman into a store and threatened to kill her for "destroying my country," authorities said. (Source: Coffee article, AP, 9/13/01)

In Stony Brook, N.Y., on Sunday night, 9/16, shots were fired at the home of an Indo-American who is a graduate of Stanford University. No injuries were reported. (Source: Mangaliman, SJ Mercury News, 9/18/01)

Ohio

In suburban Cleveland, the Guru Gobind Singh Sikh Temple was attacked with lit bottles of gasoline. At this time, no arrests have been made. (9/12/01) (Source: IACFPA e-mail, 9/18/01; Lewin & Goodstein article, NY Times, 09/18/01)

In Youngstown, Ohio, Tejinder Singh, a Sikh, said someone made rude comments to him as he stood in a parking lot. Someone also set fire to a hedge outside his brother's gas station in Cortland, Ohio, he said. (Kong, AP, imdiversity.com, 09/19/01)

Oklahoma

In Tulsa, Okla., police said a Pakistani native was beaten by three men late Tuesday in a hate crime. The victim was in a fair condition at a hospital Thursday. (Source: Coffee article, AP, 9/13/01)

9/15/01, Tulsa: Kimberly Lowe, a 21 year old full blood Creek, Native American, and several Native friends were followed and harassed by a vehicle of white males. The males threw items at the car and yelled "Go back to your own country!" Kimberly, the driver, stopped the car and got out to confront the males. The attackers drove to hit Kimberly, pin her against another vehicle, then backed up and ran over her again. Lowe was killed; police are investigating, have not deemed it a hate crime yet. (Goldtooth, IEN, e-mail, 9/18/01)

Oregon:

On Sunday, 9/16/01, near Eugene, Ore., a 54-year old California woman was arrested for trying to pull the turban off the head of a Sikh man at a highway rest stop. (Source: Lewin & Goodstein article, NY Times, 09/18/01)

Rhode Island:

In Ronkonkoma, Long Island, a man was arrested on suspicion of waving a pellet gun and shouting obscenities at a South Asian gas station worker. (9/12/01) (Source: IACFPA e-mail, 9/18/01)

Sher J.B. Singh was pulled from an Amtrak train in Providence, Rhode Island and arrested for possession of a concealed weapon. Mr. Singh was carrying a three-inch kirpan. Unfortunately, national press wrongly claimed that Mr. Singh was one of the terrorists being sought by the FBI (9/12/01). (Source: IACFPA e-mail, 9/18/01)

Texas

Dallas police and the FBI are investigating whether the shooting death of a Pakistani grocer in Pleasant Grove was out of anger at Muslims for Tuesday's terrorist attacks. The killing occurred Saturday night, 9/16/01. 46-year-old Waqar Hasan at Mom's Grocery was shot, but there was no evidence of robbery or a struggle. (Source: Emily Article, The Dallas Morning News, 9/17/01)

Mosques in Carrollton, Denton and Irving were attacked in what authorities believe could have been a reaction to the terrorist attacks. Shots were fired into the Carrollton and Irving (9/12/01) mosques and a firebomb was thrown into the mosque in Denton. (Source: Emily Article, The Dallas Morning News, 9/17/01) Early Thursday, 9/13/01, a Molotov cocktail was thrown against the side of the Islamic Society of Denton, Texas, causing an estimated $2,500 in damage, said Kiersten Dieterle, a spokeswoman for the Dallas suburb. The building was empty and there were no injuries. (Source: Coffee article, AP, 9/13/01)

Washington Armed man allegedly set fire to a Seattle mosque. (Source: Sacramento Bee, 9/18/01)

Washington, DC:

Rippy Singh was stopped by 4 white males in a car who accused him of being a terrorist and said, "we will bomb you" in Washington, DC. (Source: IACFPA e-mail, 9/18/01)

A South Asian American (Sikh), was exiting work this afternoon. As he was leaving he was accosted by pedestrians on the street who began to yell verbal expletives at him, and threatened to "get" him and bomb him in retaliation for the terrorist acts earlier in the day. Although he was able to escape the crowd, he too was deeply upset by the incident. (Source: IACFPA e-mail, 9/17/01)

Others:

Tamara Alfson, an American working at the Kuwait Embassy in Washington, spent Wednesday counseling frightened Kuwaiti students attending schools across the United States. "Some of them have already been harassed. People have been quite awful to them," said Alfson, an academic adviser to about 150 students. (Source: Coffee article, AP, 9/13/01)