January 28, 2016
Sent via first-class registered mail and e-mail
Sheriff Jim McDonnell
Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department
Hall of Justice
211 West Temple Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
jmcdonnell@lasd.org
Jackie Lacey, Los Angeles County District Attorney
Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office
211 West Temple Street, Suite 1200
Los Angeles, CA 90012
lada@co.la.ca.us
Mark Ridley-Thomas, Supervisor for the Second District
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
866 Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration
500 W. Temple Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
markridley-thomas@bos.lacounty.gov
Kamala Harris, California Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
California Department of Justice
Attn: Public Inquiry Unit
P.O. Box 944255
Sacramento, CA 94244-2550
David Bowdich, Assistant Director in Charge
Federal Bureau of Investigation
11000 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1700
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Re:
Further Investigation of the Attack Against Mr. Balwinder Jit Singh as a Hate Crime
Dear Sheriff McDonnell, District Attorney Lacey, Supervisor Ridley-Thomas, Attorney General
Harris, and Assistant Director in Charge Bowdich:
Our organizations write in support of Mr. Balwinder Jit Singh, an observant Sikh of Punjabi/South
Asian ethnicity who was violently attacked and called hateful religious and ethnic slurs by his
attacker. As organizations with a commitment to combating xenophobia and Islamophobia, we are
Building upon the legacy of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center
1145 Wilshire Blvd., 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90017 T 213-977-7500
F 213-977-7595
www.advancingjustice-la.org
Page 2 of 3
deeply concerned and disappointed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (“LASD”)
immediate response in classifying this attack as a misdemeanor assault, and its failure to investigate
Mr. Singh’s case as a hate crime under California Penal Code § 422.6 et seq. We urge LASD to launch
a thorough hate-crime investigation immediately; time is of the essence in preserving remaining
valuable evidence. We also request that the LASD strongly condemn this attack and take steps to
reassure members of the Muslim, Sikh, South Asian and other communities subject to Islamophobic
attacks that such violence and hatred will not be tolerated.
We understand that Mr. Singh was violently attacked on Friday, November 6, 2015. Mr. Singh is
employed as a bus operator for the Los Angeles County Metro Bus Company, and during the
operation of his normal route on November 6, Mr. Singh picked up a male passenger. After paying
his bus fare, the passenger sat in one of the handicapped seats at the front of the bus and began to
repeatedly yell, calling Mr. Singh a “suicide bomber” and a “terrorist.”1 As an observant Sikh, Mr.
Singh wears a turban and keeps his hair and beard unshorn; these are religiously-mandated Sikh
articles of faith. Given the nature of the epithets used, it can be reasonably inferred that the attacker
targeted Mr. Singh because of his Punjabi/South Asian and/or Sikh religious appearance, and the
attacker unfortunately associated these traits with terrorism. Shortly thereafter, the passenger got off
the bus, but then stepped back on and immediately began to attack Mr. Singh.2 He repeatedly
punched Mr. Singh’s face, continuing to call him a “suicide bomber.”3 Mr. Singh was hit with such
force that he sustained a number of injuries to his eyes, face, and jaw. More than two months later,
he continues to suffer from pain and blurry vision.4
The specific ethnic and religious slurs used by the attacker clearly indicates that the attack was
motivated by Mr. Singh’s perceived religion, race, ethnicity, and/or nationality, and falls under
California’s hate crime statute. See Cal. Penal Code §§ 422.55, 422.6. These statements are frequently
only targeted at particular segments of the population, including those of the Sikh faith. Like the
Muslim American community, the Sikh American community has borne the brunt of ignorant
bigotry for more than a decade following the September 11th terrorist attacks. For example,
immediately following the San Bernardino shooting, a gurdwara—a Sikh house of worship—in Buena
Park, CA was vandalized with bigoted graffiti cursing ISIS.5 The attacker’s use of slurs like
“terrorist” and “suicide bomber” before and during the attack clearly indicates that he targeted Mr.
Singh because he believed that Mr. Singh was a Middle-Eastern terrorist and/or Muslim; not only
was this presumption faulty because Mr. Singh is Sikh, but it also problematically and carelessly
assumes that all those of Middle Eastern descent or of the Muslim faith are terrorists, which is
simply untrue.
Under California’s hate crime statute, an attack such as Mr. Singh’s, where there is the use of slurs
coupled with violence, is afforded greater scrutiny in an effort to adequately vindicate the victim. See
Cal. Penal Code §§ 422.55, 422.6. Specifically, when a crime is motivated by an individual’s perceived
religion, race, ethnicity, and/or nationality it is the responsibility of law enforcement and the state to
Brittny Mejia, Attack on L.A. Metro driver sparks fear in the Sikh community, L.A. TIMES, Jan. 14, 2016,
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-attack-on-metro-driver-sparks-fear-in-sikh-community-20160114story.html.
2 Id.
3 Amanda Lee Myers, Sikh Bus Driver Says Police Didn’t Recognize Hate Crime, ABC NEWS, Jan. 14, 2016,
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/sikh-bus-driver-police-recognize-hate-crime-36301953.
4 Mejia, supra note 1.
5 Veronica Rocha, Buena Park man admits vandalizing Sikh temple, police say, L.A. TIMES, Dec. 11, 2015,
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-man-arrested-sikh-temple-vandalism-20151211-story.html.
1
Building upon the legacy of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center
1145 Wilshire Blvd., 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90017 T 213-977-7500
F 213-977-7595
www.advancingjustice-la.org
Page 3 of 3
treat such crimes as a hate crime, rather than merely as a misdemeanor offense. Id. Indeed, in other
similar cases where racial slurs are followed by a violent attack, prosecutors have been successful in
convicting the defendant under California Penal Code § 422.6 et seq. See, e.g., People v. Lashley, 1 Cal.
App. 4th 938 (1991) (upholding defendant’s conviction under Cal. Penal Code § 422.6 when
defendant called the victim the “n-word” and other slurs prior to shooting him).
We strongly urge LASD to move swiftly to preserve all possible sources of evidence and investigate
this as a hate crime to the fullest extent possible. While we applaud LASD’s willingness to reinterview Mr. Singh and reconsider its investigation, other sources of uncollected evidence remain,
such as identifying and interviewing bus passengers who may have witnessed the incident; this
evidence is highly relevant and should be reviewed immediately, along with any audio and video
footage.
Mr. Singh’s attack is another in a long-line of attacks against Sikhs since the tragic events of
September 11th. He has bravely come forward to share his story, and LASD must investigate it to the
fullest extent possible, publicly condemn this attack, and take steps to reassure the public that they
will be protected from Islamophobic attacks. If you have any questions about this letter, please
contact Dorothy Chang, dchang@advancingjustice-la.org, 213-241-0268 or Aman Thind,
athind@advancingjustice-la.org, 213-241-0272.
Best,
Dorothy Chang
Staff Attorney, Impact Litigation
Asian Americans Advancing Justice - LA
Aman Thind
Project Director, Immigration
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – LA
Signatories:
API Equality – LA
California Immigrant Policy Center
Council on American-Islamic Relations – LA
KmB, Pro-People Youth
Muslim Public Affairs Counsel
Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund
South Asian Network
OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates, Greater Los Angeles Chapter
Building upon the legacy of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center
1145 Wilshire Blvd., 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90017 T 213-977-7500
F 213-977-7595
www.advancingjustice-la.org