Thugs beat up Los Angeles Sikh, accuse him of being bin Laden

Rediff.com ^ | December 12, 2001 | PTI

[USMMA_83]

Thugs beat up Los Angeles Sikh, accuse him of being bin Laden

Anger against Asians in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks continues in the United States, the latest victim being 47-year old Surinder Singh Sidhu, a liquor store owner who was beaten by thugs accusing him of being Saudi extremist Osama bin Laden.

Los Angeles police list the attack on Sidhu as a hate crime, one of more than 100 logged since September 11.

Surinder Singh Sidhu had been wearing a star-spangled turban to show his patriotism - and to protect himself.

For a Sikh fearful of being mistaken for a Muslim, it worked until this week when, he said, thugs entered his North Hills store, accused him of being Osama bin Laden and beat him with metal poles, media reports said.

"I've been here 25 years, and this has never happened," Sidhu said on Friday at a news conference called to seek help in finding his attackers.

"I love this country. It's the land of freedom," he said.

The Los Angeles Daily News quoted the police describing the incident as a hate crime.

"It's absolutely unacceptable to have anybody attack anybody because of how they choose to worship," it quoted Joe Curreri, captain of the Los Angeles Police Department's Devonshire division in Northridge, as saying.

"It was obvious that they were attacking him not because they wanted anything from him but because of what he looked like," Curreri said.

"They obviously had hate in their minds when they walked into the store because they had metal pipes with them."

Describing the events on the fateful day, Sidhu said he was preparing to close his liquor mart store in the 16100 block of Nordhoff Street at about 2300 hours (local time) on Monday when two men armed with 4-foot metal poles walked in and asked, "Are you bin Laden?" Sidhu said.

"No, I'm a Sikh from Punjab, India," he relied adding that in America, only Sikhs wear turbans.

"We'll kill bin Laden today," they said and then hit him about two dozen times with the poles, said Sidhu, 47, who lives in Valencia.

Sidhu managed to escape after pushing over a shelf of candy onto his attackers, described as being white men, about 23-years-old.

Sidhu was treated for head injuries at a local hospital.

"The crime was regrettable but not surprising," Kirtan Singh Khalsa, spokesman for the Khalsa Council, an international council for Sikh affairs, said.

More than 200 have been reported nationwide, he said.

"We're deeply concerned by this event. But we are not shocked," Khalsa said, adding, "Sikhs are accustomed to ridicule because of wearing turbans."

PTI

[USMMA_83]

Damn this sh*t has to stop.

[I_Love_My_Husband]

I agree. And, OBL is NOT HERE FOLKS!!!!!!! Geez!

[Libertarian4Bush]

This is just SIKH!

[Joe Hadenuf]

Woops. Maybe for Sidhu's own safety he should loose the turban for a while. Try a nice ball cap maybe.

[Cinnamon Girl]

This sounds like a hoax. I'll wait for more info from a major news source.

[wideawake]

Morons. How many Islamic fundamentalists sell liquor for a living?

[Dallas]

This happened on Sept 7, so it's not exactly breaking news.

.

[Doctor Stochastic]

If you've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

He could be in Oregon. We will never know.

[Attillathehon]

Surinder Singh Sidhu had been wearing a star-spangled turban to show his patriotism

A star-spangled turban? I don't think so. I think the color of their turbans is determined by their sect or something like that.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Beat ya'.

[USMMA_83]

Cool truban.

[steve-b]

This happened on Sept 7

The perils of poor proofreading.

[Mark17]

Morons. How many Islamic fundamentalists sell liquor for a living?

I know of one. He used to be my friend, but we just could not agree on religion, so we are not friends anymore. He wanted me to become Muslim, and I will never do that.

[NC_Libertarian]

As with all violent people, I support executing these punks.

[USMMA_83]

Nope...color of the turban is a fashon statement.

[babble-on]

The sixth Sikh sheik's sixth sheep's sick!! Pass it on fast!

[Dallas]

He looks like a cool guy...kinda has that Santa quality about him...

[sheik yerbouty]

Actually it did happen and was on varios local stations in the LA area. The assailants were said to be one male black and one male latino. I suspect that they were cretinous thugs. BTW, Sikhs are NOT Muslims.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

I can't even read what you wrote!! aghhhh

[isom35]

I'l bet someone said that in germany, circa 1939.

[Cinnamon Girl]

Were they crackheads? Were they sent by his bookie? What's the story?

[stylin19a]

let's see...black and latino beat-up a Sikh..

nope....not a hate crime, move along, nothing to see here

[keepinitreal]

Hey look on the bright side, at least he didn't sustain any head injuries, that turbin(sp) probably saved his life. Sorry

I think these thugs should be treated the same as they treated this fellow.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Fortunately he wasn't a Korean. He wouldn't have been so lucky.

[StoneColdGOP]

No kidding, these punks make me sick.

[colorado tanker]

I wondered about the identity of the attackers, a fact conspicuously missing from the article. I don't suppose those thugs also stole some cash or liquor, just to teach the poor guy a really good lesson?

[FITZ]

The assailants were said to be one male black and one male latino. I suspect that they were cretinous thugs.

The article made it sound like the attackers were white. I guess they were a little eager to find a hate crime but if it's minorities fighting other minorities, it can't be a hate crime. It sounds like just a typical event in LA.

[gfactor]

nope....not a hate crime, move along, nothing to see here

Is this the idea you got from the article? or something you are trying to promote?

[so_real]

So instead of petitioning the government or picketing or holding rallies with the rest of the bleeding-heart liberals demanding that the US surrender or give-it-up-for OBL, this group of kids had social conscience enough to pick up the proverbial "Big Stick" and go after OBL for themselves. Yes, it was wrong. Yes, their violence was unjustified, unresearched, ill-advised, and not carefully practiced. Yes, they are morons. Yes, they should tried and punished for the crime. But don't fail to note that they did "take action" going after what they (assuming the article is true and accurate) believed was the enemy of the USA, which is a quality I just don't often see in groups of 23 year olds today. If these kids were honestly attempting to defend the USA from it's #1 enemy (defense being a good offense and all), let them pay for their crime under law and then "polish" them up -- they might just be "diamonds in the rough".

[jae471]

Sikhs are NOT Muslims.

Sikhs HATE Muslims.

One of my friend's father is Sikh. He told me much of Sikh culture is based on fighting Muslims.

[mitchbert]

Some social conscience these morons have. A turban worn by a devout Sikh looks absolutely nothing like what a moslem would wear. While I can see the point you're trying to make I can't conjur up even an iota of praise for them, regrdless of their motives. Here's some hard working businessman simply trying to put food on the table for his family and a bunch of jackbooted thugs who haven't the slightest clue as to what they're doing start wailing on him. Disgusting. They're no better than a Taliban. Lock 'em up!

[babble-on]

ummmm, you're saying you don't see enough people who like to beat the crap out of elderly law abiding people? I think what we have here is violent kids who suddenly felt they had license to kick the crap out of anyone whose looks they disapproved of. That is not the way we do it around these parts.

[ikanakattara]

This is so WRONG! These people who beat this man up are so STONE ignorant. Not that it would have been excusable to beat up a Muslim minding his own business, either, but a Sikh, for crying out loud. These people have been brutally persecuted by Muslims in India for 500 years.

It looks like things haven't changed since the Rodney King riots, though. Time for this shopkeeper to buy a long gun, preferably a nice shotgun, take some NRA courses, and get into some serious self-defense.

[Pete]

This sentence is in the article.

Sidhu managed to escape after pushing over a shelf of candy onto his attackers, described as being white men, about 23-years-old.

Although, the use of the word "thugs" in the first paragraph should have been enough. Only young white males are thugs.

In my book, ANYBODY who beats an innocent person with a pipe is a thug and a criminal - I don't care what color they are.

[phillibuck]

Everything you say is undermined by the fact that these pukes are REAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY STUPID!

If that's the best you can come up with, then you may as well have peace protestors argue intellectual matters for you.

btw, the sixth Sikh's sick sheep thing was a hoot.

[crystalk]

What we need is a little better education in our high schools about anthropology and human morphological types. I would bet I could tell a Sikh from an Arab a block away.

[Squantos]

Just where does one buy a nice "star-spangled turban" ?

Stay Safe !

[so_real]

I knew I was going to take some flamage for my comment :-)

I think what we have here is violent kids who suddenly felt they had license to kick the crap out of anyone whose looks they disapproved of. That is not the way we do it around these parts.

Actually, I think you are probably correct in that statement. I'm not so naive as you might think :-). That's why I made sure to put in my comment a disclaimer about the truth and accuracy of the article. Don't believe for a minute that I am condoning or defending their actions. Absolutely the criminals involved need to be tried and punished, and I have a great deal of empathy for the victim as well. My only point was that (assuming those kids truly were dumb enough to believe they were defending their country through this violence) they ought to afterwards be educated and directed so as to put their energies to more accurate and productive defense of the Nation.

Everything you say is undermined by the fact that these pukes are REAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY STUPID!

That was funny, and true! But I'm a pretty good debater and won't be needing the company of any peace-protestors, thank you :-)

[skeeter]

At the risk of being called a skinhead, I might point out that awhile back it was revealed that when keeping hate crime statistics the FBI considers hispanic suspects 'white', and hispanic victims 'hispanic'.

[neutrino]

So does this confirm the old cliche "Sikh and you shall find."?

[tsomer]

article sez they were "described as white male," which could mean anything. Sounds to me like a robbery; the Bin Laden reference was verbal intimidation. He pushed a candy rack on top of those $hit Heads? Got to admire him there; quick thinking!

[steve-b]

But don't fail to note that they did "take action" going after what they (assuming the article is true and accurate) believed was the enemy of the USA

Bah. If they want to fight enemies of the USA, let them join the military.

[jennyp]

Everything you say is undermined by the fact that these pukes are REAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY STUPID!

They should put the word out on the street that whoever beat up the guy will get the $25 million reward. You think they'd show up to claim it?

[babble-on]

Fair enough. Sort of like when Arlo Guthrie tries to get out of the military by pretending to be a homicidal maniac, and they fast-track him into service.

[sheik yerbouty]

So far as I know is that there is no more info right now.

[sheik yerbouty]

Apparently they left the cash.

[sheik yerbouty]

I believe that this man's temple originated the Stars and Stripes turban to show that they were Americans.