NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — A rally against hate will be held in Flushing, Queens on Sunday after surveillance video showed a Sikh man being attacked with a hammer.
The victim believes he was targeted because of his religious attire, specifically his turban, and is upset that police are not yet investigating the attack as a hate crime, CBS2’s Christina Fan reported.
“He pulled out the hammer from his bucket and bang on my head with such intensity,” Sumit Ahluwalia said.
Ahluwalia, 32, was hurt physically and emotionally by the attack that was caught on camera in the lobby of a Brooklyn hotel.
On Monday morning, he was working at the Quality Inn in Brownsville as the operations manager when a man entered the lobby, started yelling at the front desk staff, spit in his face three times and bashed his head with a hammer.
“I came moving back and said, ‘Hey brother, what happened?’ [He said,] ‘You’re not my brother. You’re not the same skin. I don’t like you,'” Ahluwalia said.
“Do you think you were targeted?” CBS2’s Kiran Dhillon asked.
“I was the only turban guy who was there,” Ahluwalia said.
The attack left Ahluwalia, a father of two who immigrated from India three years ago, completely shaken.
Police are trying to identify a man who allegedly struck a hotel employee in the head with a hammer in Brooklyn on April 26, 2021. (Credit: NYPD Crime Stoppers)
“Now I’m scared somehow… Now when I’m going to work, when I’m walking, I have some fear, like maybe someone is coming,” he said. “Everyone comes to this country with new hope, but now there’s something, other feeling in the mind, like why, I didn’t say anything, why did this happen to me?”
Police released images of the suspect in the hammer attack.
Anyone who has information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-8477 or for Spanish, 1-888-577-4782. Tips can also be sent to the NYPDTips Twitter account or submitted online at NYPDCrimeStoppers.com.
On Saturday, members of the South Asian and Sikh community were joined by politicians to speak out against anti-Asian hate.
“Such a tragedy that one of the kindest, most giving groups of people is also one of the greatest targets,” said New York Assembly Member Jenifer Rajkumar.
The Sikh community wants the assault investigated as a hate crime.
As of last week, there have been 68 anti-Asian hate crimes in the city, compared to 15 during the same period last year.
Ahluwalia said he came to the U.S. with a heart full of hope and just wants to belong.
“People should know that these turban guys, they are here to help. We are not here to harm anyone,” he said. “We are also here struggling, doing a job ourselves. Wake up in the morning 6 a.m., go home 7, 9 sometimes, and we don’t deserve this.”
Ahluwalia suffered minor injuries to his head which caused internal bleeding. He believes his turban prevented the injuries from being more severe.
The Queens solidarity march is expected to start at 12:30 p.m. Sunday at Flushing Town Hall.
CBS2’s Christina Fan contributed to this report.
from CBS New York https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/05/02/queens-rally-against-anti-asian-hate-sikh-man-hammer-attack/
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