A Sikh Uber driver in the US says a passenger pointed a gun at him while making racial comments, prompting calls for hate crime charges against the suspect.
Gurjeet Singh who lives in Northwest Illinois and serves as the head priest of the local Sikh temple was driving an Uber on Sunday, 28th January when the alleged incident happened.
An attorney from the Sikh Coalition – a US-based advocacy group - representing Mr Singh says the male passenger began asking Mr Singh questions: “What is your status here?” “Which country do you belong to?” “Do you serve our country or do you serve your country?”
Because of Mr Singh’s limited English, he got confused while still trying to explain.
The male passenger allegedly put a gun to Mr Singh’s head saying “I hate turban people; I hate beard people”.
Gurjeet Singh Source: Sikh Coalition
Mr Singh hit the brakes and the female passenger had to drag the suspect out of the vehicle before apologising to Mr Singh for her co-passenger’s behaviour.
Sikh Coalition says it’s a clear case of “bias-based” crime.
"In the nearly three weeks since -- despite repeated outreach by the Sikh Coalition -- the suspect remains free," Sikh Coalition’s Legal Director Amrith Kaur said.
"We expect the Rock Island County Sheriff's Police Department to arrest Mr Singh's attacker, and the Rock Island County State's Attorney's Office to file hate crime charges immediately," she said.
The County Sheriff’s Department confirmed a complaint was received from an Uber driver about a gun being pointed at him and an investigation is underway.
“The fact that no arrest has been made and hate crime charges have not yet been filed endangers the safety of Mr Singh and the Quad Cities Sikh community,” said Ms Kaur.
“We know this man has a gun, hates people with turbans and beards, and threatened to take our client’s life. Thanks to Uber’s smartphone application we know his identity. Nobody deserves to experience hate violence, and he should be arrested immediately.”
