SAALT joins Sadhana, CAIR, and faith based allies in calling for the NYPD to investigate the attack on Swami Ji Harish Chander Puri in Queens, NY as a hate crime.
Swami Ji Harish Chander Puri was walking down the street wearing his traditional religious clothes in Glen Oaks, Queens not far from the Shiv Shakti Peeth temple around 11am last Thursday. A man came up from behind him and started beating him.
Eyewitnesses say the attacker shouted “this is my neighborhood,” during the incident.
Puri had to be rushed to the hospital because of his injuries.
This incident happened just days after President Trump tweeted about the four women of color Congresswomen known as “the Squad”: “Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. ” Just days after that, crowds chanted “send her back” about Congresswoman Ilhan Omar at a Trump rally in North Carolina.
“There will be no end to hate violence unless we disrupt and dismantle the racist narratives and policies leading to this violence. This should start from the top, but instead the highest levels of government are encouraging this violence,” said Lakshmi Sridaran, SAALT’s Interim Co-Executive Director.
Racist political rhetoric from this administration is dangerous. It has a direct impact on communities of color across the country. SAALT’s Communities on Fire report found that one in 5 perpetrators of hate violence in the year after President Trump was elected cited Trump’s name, a Trump campaign slogan, or a Trump administration policy while committing the act of violence.