The Sikh Coalition issues advisory to community members; asks them to report hate crime immediately.
The FBI is investigating, along with the local police, the shooting of a Sikh American in Kent, Washington, on Friday.
Both the FBI and the Kent police are looking at the incident as a hate crime.
“The FBI remains committed to investigating crimes that are potentially hate-motivated and we continue to work with all our community partners in the Seattle area,” the agency said in a statement.
The gunman, identified by the victim as a 6-foot-tall white male, is still at large. He reportedly approached the victim and told him to “Go back to his own country.”
Meanwhile, in the wake of the attack, the civil rights group Sikh Coalition has urged law enforcement officials at all levels to “conduct a thorough hate crime investigation” and “improve laws and regulations relating to bias prevention.”
RELATED: Gun man shoots Sikh American in Kent, Washington, in another apparent hate crime (March 4, 2017)
A press release issued by the organization on Sunday also called on the officials to “organize Know Your Rights forums to build resilience in targeted communities” and “partner with Sikh Americans to expand Sikh awareness and appreciation.”
RELATED: Indian American engineer shot dead in Olathe, Kansas, in apparent hate crime (February 23, 2017)
The release also called on members of the community to report hate incidents, as and when they occur. It said:
We should not wait until someone gets hurt or killed to report hate incidents. We must be vigilant. If someone says hateful things about your Sikh identity, don’t ignore it – rather, please report the incident to the Sikh Coalition on our Report Hate website – http://reporthate.org – or send an email to our legal team at legal@sikhcoalition.org.