New York man arrested on hate crime charge for attacking Sikh professor

April 20, 2014 09:06 am | Updated May 21, 2016 12:27 pm IST - NEW YORK

A man accused of pulling the beard of a Sikh professor in an attack where young men called the professor “Osama” and a “terrorist” has been arrested and charged with a hate crime, police in New York City said on Saturday.

Christian Morales (20) was charged with aggravated harassment in connection with September’s attack on Columbia University professor Prabhjot Singh, who suffered a broken jaw.

Mr. Singh (31) was walking home with a friend when he was approached by a group of 12 to 15 young men, he said days after his attack.

“I heard, ‘Get him. Osama.’ I heard ‘terrorist.’ And I felt somebody grab my beard,” Mr. Singh said.

Mr. Singh did not return a message seeking comment on Saturday.

Morales was in custody and unavailable for comment. It was unclear if he had an attorney.

Detectives from the hate crimes task force are investigating the case.

Mr. Singh co-authored a 2012 op-ed in The New York Times accusing the federal government of failing to accurately measure the extent of anti-Sikh violence in response to the August 2012 shooting at a Sikh temple in Milwaukee that left six people and the white supremacist gunman dead.

In the op-ed, Mr. Singh and his co-author argued that it is wrong “to assume that every attack against a Sikh is really meant for a Muslim.” They said Sikhs have historically been targeted.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.