The suspected hate attack in Kansas City that left Hyderabad man Srinivas Kuchibhotla dead on Wednesday brought US President Donald Trump and that country’s gun policies in the line of fire on social media.
Many users who posted condolences on Facebook with the hash tag #SrinivasKuchibhotla faulted recent changes proposed to the US’s foreign policy to keep immigrants from select countries away. The outbursts also targeted Indian Americans who supported President Trump during his election campaign, and was seen coming from all quarters.
“All this hate since Trump/Bannon/Pence have been campaigning and into the White House! They cannot make their previous prejudiced talk against many others just go away,” one user Donna Holt, posted.
Hate crime
Telugu actor Siddarth, who tweeted about the incident’s occurrence, responded in another tweet to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s tweet expressing shock. “Don’t be shocked! Be angry! Trump is spreading hate. This is a hate crime! RIP,” the actor tweeted.
Mr. Kuchibhotla was fatally wounded after a 51-year-old former U.S. navy man opened fire, which according to reports, was done after he uttered racial abuses. Eyewitness accounts in local reports from Kansas City claim the attacker, Adam Wade Purinton, mistook Mr. Kuchibhotla and his friend Alok Reddy Madasani for persons from the Middle East. An American Ian Grillot, who came to rescue of the Indians and survived after being shot at, was hailed a hero. “If the right to keep and bear arms did not exist, Srinivas Kuchibhotla would be alive today, no?” a tweet of user Ramesh Ramachandran, asks. Others referred to the death of Warangal man Mamidala Vamshi Reddy who was shot dead earlier this month in California, and stressed the need for curbing gun violence.
