Several other instances of hate crime were also witnessed in the US, in recent days.
In the backdrop of recent hate crime where an Indian engineer was shot dead in a bar in Kansas, Indian American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) urged for immediate actions to stop hate crime. Krishnamoorthi called-for the US Attorney General to use his discretion in the Justice Department to thwart the rising incidents of hate and violence in the US.
“From grave desecration at a Jewish cemetery in St Louis to a shooting at a bar in Kansas, Americans have been shaken to the core by the recent rise in hate crimes,” Krishnamoorthi said in a letter to Attorney-General Jeff Sessions.
The Indian American community was in a state of shock and intimidation after a US Navy veteran Adam Purinton racially abused two Indians in the Olathe bar. Purinton fired gun shots at the two men as he yelled “terrorist” and told them “get out of my country”. Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla succumbed to his fatal bullet injuries and his friend Alok Madasaani was hospitalized.
Several other instances of hate crime were also witnessed in the US, in recent days. The bomb threats received by Jewish Community Centers across the US and the countless number of Muslims and Sikhs being harassed are a few among them.
“All Americans must be able to count on the federal government to defend their fundamental rights as citizens of this great republic. If any American is harassed or threatened because of who they are, it harms everyone,” he said.
“I respectfully urge you to use the full powers of the Justice Department to investigate and combat this disturbing rise in hate crimes,” Krishnamoorthi said. “These attacks seek to undermine not just public safety, but the very nature of American exceptionalism.”
He said, “For more than two hundred years, the US has stood as a beacon of freedom from tyranny, oppression, and persecution.”
“A fundamental promise of our nation is that any American – regardless of where you come from, the color of your skin, or how you pray – can trust the federal government to preserve, protect, and defend their rights,” Krishnamoorthi added.