SALDEF and CAIR condemn senseless act of violence

Washington, DC - July 16, 2007 - The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) and the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) are saddened about the death last week of Mr. Satendar Singh, a 26 year-old Sikh American victim of a vicious hate crime, as he was removed from life-support at a local hospital.On Sunday July 1, 2007, Mr. Singh was beaten unconscious while enjoying a picnic with some friends at Lake
Natoma in Folsom, CA. His attackers reportedly yelled xenophobic, anti-religious and homophobic remarks to him and his friends. After being taken to the hospital, Mr. Singh clang to life for four days before family members agreed to remove him from life-support after seeing he was registering little to no brain activity.SALDEF and CAIR are concerned with this senseless murder of a promising young man. Hate crimes are designed to create fear amongst particular communities. Mr. Singh was targeted due to the color of skin, his national origin, and because he was the only one in his group without a female friend present. This attack was intended to create fear in the Fijian, South Asian, Arab, Muslim, Sikh and LGBT communities.”We strongly condemn this act of violence. Such hate has no place in this country,” said SALDEF Volunteer Attorney Neilinder Singh. “Sadder still, Satendar Singh had lived peacefully in the US since he was 19, only to have his life ended around the Fourth of July, when we celebrate the freedoms and principles of inclusion that this country was founded upon.”