A 71-year-old Sikh man named Sahib Singh was attacked by two men while taking a walk near his home in Manteca, California early Monday morning.
Footage of the beating was captured by a neighbor’s security camera around 6 a.m. In the video, two masked and hooded individuals are seen approaching Singh.
Singh pulls out his wallet, but the two men don’t grab for it. Instead, one of the men kicks him to the ground and continues to while he’s down. They leave Singh laying there, but return to spit on him, kick him some more and take his wallet.
Manteca Police reported that the incident looks like attempted robbery, but that they “are not ruling out the possibility of it being a hate crime.”
One suspect is an African American male in his 20’s, about 5-foot-10, skinny and clean shaven. He was wearing a green button up shirt and jeans at the time of the assault.
The second suspect is 5-foot-6 and 140 pounds with black hair. He was wearing a white shirt and jeans during the incident.
This Attack Comes Six Days After The Brutal Beating of Another Sikh Man Just 30 Minutes Away From Singh
Surfeit Malhi, 50, was campaigning for Republican Rep. Jeff Denham by putting out yard signs near his home in Turlock, California when he says two hooded men threw sand in his eyes and started beating his head with a stick and belt.
Malhi told CBS Sacramento, the men were shouting, “Go back to your country!”
They spray painted a Celtic Cross onto the side of Malhi’s white truck along with those words.
“I’m American, 100 percent, no doubt, so they say, go back to my country? This is my country,” Malhi told the CBS. Malhi claims his turban saved his life.
The Sikh Coalition, a civil rights organization based in New York City, condemned the recent attacks, calling them “deeply concerning.” The are currently investigating Singh’s case.
Sikh Coalition Legal Director Amrith Kaur put out this statement:
We are 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. 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.