A 71-year-old Sikh man was attacked by two men while on his morning walk in Manteca, California on Monday. The attack was captured on a nearby home's security camera.
The Sikh man was identified as Sahib Singh and authorities say it could be a hate crime. The video shows, two men wearing hoodies approach Singh. As Singh sees the two men approach he stops. After a brief interaction, Singh is seen trying to walk away from the boys into the road. The men follow him and after talking for some moments, one of the men suddenly kicks Singh, causing him to fall back on the ground with his turban falling off.
Good god. Two men brutally assaulted Sahib Singh, a 71-year-old Sikh in Manteca, California. They kicked him and spat on him, and he is dealing with serious injuries.
— Simran Jeet Singh (@SikhProf) August 7, 2018
Twitter: Please do your thing and help identify the assailants. pic.twitter.com/UxwrQOhQyN
As Singh gets up to defend himself, he is kicked again, falling to the ground a second time. The men walk away only for one of them to return and kick Singh three times. He proceeds to spit on Singh before leaving.
The police are reportedly looking into the attack as a robbery attempt but "are not ruling out the possibility of it being a hate crime." Singh reportedly suffers from heart ailments and other health issues like epilepsy.
In a statement, the Sikh Coalition, a civil rights organization based in New York City, said it was "deeply concerned" about the assault.
"We are currently investigating the case and looking to directly connect with the impacted community member to guarantee that his legal rights are protected and that all steps are taken to thoroughly investigate this crime," Sikh Coalition Legal Director Amrith Kaur said. "At this stage, we are closely monitoring the situation in order to determine what the evidence shows the motivation of this vicious attack to be. We hope to learn more soon and will share appropriate updates then."
This is the second attack on a Sikh Man in California in the last week. Surjit Malhi was attacked by two men who threw sand in his eyes and beat him. He was told to "Go back to your country!". His truck was spray painted with a Celtic Cross and the same message. Malhi was hit on his head with a rod but was saved from injury due to his turban.