CHRONOLOGY OF DOMESTIC HATE CRIMES AND RESPONSES
September 11, 2001

Palos Heights, IL: A man attacks a Moroccan gas station attendant with the blunt end of a machete. Police take Robert J. Shereikis into custody, charge him with hate crime, aggravated battery and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. Shereikis admits that he believed the victim was Arab and attacked him because he was upset with the attacks in New York City and Washington D.C.
Manhattan, NY: Amrik Singh Chawla, a South Asian American (Sikh), is chased by a group of four men yelling “terrorist.” They chase him for four blocks. He is unharmed, but deeply shaken by the entire incident.
Richmond Hills, NY: A gurdwara is fired upon with rubber bullets. An arrest is made when the individual returns the following morning.
Richmond Hills, NY: Attar Singh Bhatia is severely injured and hospitalized when he is attacked with a baseball bat.
Richmond Hills, NY: Two Sikh Americans are attacked with a paint ball gun. The police arrest two men.
Newport Beach, CA: A Newport Beach woman receives harassing and threatening phone calls all morning. “I have an Arabic-sounding last name and I’m in the phone book, that’s the only explanation I can think of,” she states.
San Jose, CA: Maha El Genaidi, executive director of the Islamic Network Group in San Jose, receives two threats to her organization and personally fields more than seven threatening calls and e-mails. “One of them threatened my life and the lives of all Muslims.” And others were saying, “Get the hell out of the country. You ruined the country, and you will all die,” El Genaidi says.
Stockton, CA: Amarjit Singh Dadwal, a Sikh, is shouted at and called an “Iraqi” by four or five white teens and adults in a van.
Tulsa, OK: According to local police, a Pakistani native is beaten by three men in a hate crime. By Thursday, the victim is in a fair condition at a hospital.
Washington, D.C.: As a South Asian American (Sikh) exits work, he is accosted by pedestrians on the street who begin to yell verbal expletives at him, and threaten to “get” him and bomb him in retaliation for the terrorist acts earlier in the day. Although he was able to escape the crowd, he was deeply upset by the incident.
September 12, 2001

Providence, RI: Sher J.B. Singh is pulled from an Amtrak train and arrested for possession of a concealed weapon. Mr. Singh was carrying a three-inch kirpan. National press wrongly claims that Mr. Singh is one of the terrorists being sought by the FBI.
Cleveland, OH: Guru Gobind Singh Sikh Temple is attacked with lit bottles of gasoline.
Bridgeview, IL: Police turn back 300 marchers — some waving American flags and shouting “USA! USA!” as they try to march on a mosque in the Chicago suburb. Three demonstrators are arrested. There are no injuries and demonstrators are kept blocks from the closed Muslim house of worship.
“I’m proud to be American and I hate Arabs and I always have,” said 19-year-old Colin Zaremba who marched with the group from Oak Lawn.
Chicago, IL: A firebomb is tossed at an Arab American community center.
Gary, IN: A man in a ski mask fires an assault rifle at a gas station where a Yemen-born U.S. citizen is working.
Washington D.C.: Tamara Alfson, an American working at the Kuwait Embassy, counsels frightened Kuwaiti students attending schools across the United States. Some of them have already been harassed. “People have been quite awful to them,” said Alfson, an academic adviser to about 150 students.
Boston, MA: Meera Kumar is racially profiled and harassed by police on a Boston-NY train, along with other South Asians and Arabs.
Collingswood, NJ: Vandals attack two Indian-owned businesses, spray-painting, “leave town.”
Brooklyn Heights, NY: A man drives past a small group of men and boys gathered at a Mosque for afternoon prayers and yells, “Murderers!”
Huntington, NY: A 75-year-old man who is drunk tries to run over a Pakistani woman in the parking lot of a shopping mall. The man then follows the woman into a store and threatens to kill her for “destroying my country,” the police report.
Long Island, NY: A man is arrested on suspicion of waving a pellet gun and shouting obscenities at a South Asian gas station worker in Ronkonkoma.
Carrollton, Denton, and Irving, TX: Mosques in all three cities are attacked in what authorities believe could be reaction to the terrorist attacks. Shots are fired into the Carrollton and Irving mosques, and a firebomb is thrown into the mosque in Denton.
Napa, CA: Dale Singh, manager of a fast-food restaurant finds his car’s finish and windows scratched and scraped.
September 13, 2001

Colorado Springs, CO: Buggie and Pinky Bajwa, Sikh Americans, awake Thursday morning, to find the word “Terrorists” sprayed in red paint across their family’s driveway and “Terrorist on board” written on their white car.
Los Angeles, CA: Sign in the elevator at the Hall of Records says, “Kill all towel heads.”
Brooklyn, NY: An Arab grocery storeowner is threatened with violence by his supplier.
Denton, TX: Early Thursday, a Molotov cocktail is thrown against the side of the Islamic Society, causing an estimated $2,500 in damage, says Kiersten Dieterle, a spokeswoman for the Dallas suburb. The building was empty, and there are no injuries.
Salt Lake City, UT: James Herrick, 32, tries to set fire to a Pakistani American family’s business.
Seattle, WA: Shots are fired at worshippers at a mosque and attempts were made to set the building on fire. Police have charged Patrick Cunningham, 53.
September 14, 2001

Los Angeles, CA: A young Persian woman is eating lunch with a friend who jokingly calls her an Arab. A young woman sitting next to them follows them out of the restaurant, asks the woman if she is Arab, and punches her in the eye.
Long Beach, CA: Anti-Israeli graffiti is found on a home at Woodruff Avenue & Conant Street. Local newspaper accounts that day indicate there have been 12 incidents in Long Beach since September 11th, the same amount reported in all of last year.
Tempe, AZ: A 19-year-old Muslim Arizona State University student is pushed to the ground in a parking lot and hit with eggs by two men while they shout, “Die, Muslim, die!” That same night, a 31-year-old student of Pakistani descent is also attacked.
September 15, 2001

Ceres, CA: Surjit Singh Samra, 69, leaves for his daily walk Sunday morning, but never returns to the family’s home in Ceres, which is just outside Modesto, California. His body is found in a canal September 18th. Police are currently investigating to determine whether the man was murdered or died of natural causes.
San Francisco, CA: Sean Fernandes, a 26-year-old Indian Catholic is attacked while walking with a white Australian friend in the early morning. An unidentified man approaches the pair, calls Fernandes a “dirty Arab,” and punches him and the friend. The attacker also allegedly directs an ethnic slur at Clarke and told him, “Your friend is Arab, and we kill Arabs.” Fernandes’ friend is stabbed in the ensuing brawl and remains hospitalized in critical condition.
San Gabriel, CA: Adel Karas, a 48-year-old storeowner of Egyptian descent, is gunned down in his import shop.
Tulsa, OK: Kimberly Lowe, a 21-year-old full-blood Creek Native American, is killed when she and several Native friends are followed and harassed by a vehicle of white males. The males throws items at the car and yells “Go back to your own country!” Lowe, the driver, stops the car and gets out to confront the males, at which point the attackers drive and pin her against another vehicle, then back up and run over her again.
Mesa, AZ: First-degree murder charge is filed in shooting of Mesa Sikh, Balbir Singh Sodhi, 49. Forty-two-year-old Frank Roque is charged with first degree murder and is also charged with attempted murder in the two other attacks and three counts of drive-by shooting. Saad Saad, a 35-year-old male of Lebanese descent, is the owner of the Mobil station in Scottsdale where the second shooting occurred. It is reported that Roque shouted, “I stand for America all the way,” as he was handcuffed Saturday night.
Dallas, TX: A Pakistani grocer, Waqar Hasan, is found shot to death in his grocery store.
September 16, 2001

Eugene, OR: A 54-year-old California woman is arrested for trying to pull the turban off the head of a Sikh man at a highway rest stop.
San Diego, CA: On Sunday evening, an explosion from what was apparently a cherry bomb on the sidewalk outside the Islamic Center of San Diego forces worshippers to evacuate the building during a prayer service.
Stony Brook, NY: Shots are fired at the home of an Indo-American, a graduate of Stanford University. No injuries are reported.
September 17, 2001

Beverly Hills, CA: A women at a bagel shop wearing a Koranic charm on her neck sits down with a friend and is openly disparaged by another woman. The perpetrator accusingly yells, “Look what you people have done to my people” and lunges at the victim, but held back by one of the men with her. The victim calls police, and the woman continues to make derogatory comments. No one comes to her aid, and when it is all over, the owner goes over to the perpetrators and offers to pack their lunch and apologizes for any inconvenience.
Encino, CA: An Afghan Restaurant is set on fire at about 1:40 A.M., causing $30,000 in damages. It is unclear as of yet whether the case of arson can be categorized as a hate crime.
Fremont, CA: An Afghan restaurant is attacked with bottles and rocks.
Los Angeles, CA: A sign on the freeway reads “Kill all Arabs.”
Oxnard, CA: A Sikh employee at an Oxnard convenience store is thrown to the ground and beaten by four men during a robbery. The case is being investigated as a possible hate crime.
Palmdale, CA: Reports of shots fired into a convenience store.
Quartz Hill, CA: Murhaf Maida’s store on Avenue L is hit by four shots. This is the second attack on his store in three days.
Sacramento, CA: A Sikh temple in West Sacramento is vandalized.
San Gabriel, CA: A woman wearing Muslim clothing is shopping at the Albertson’s on Garey and Foothill when a Caucasian woman begins attacking her and yells, “America is only for white people.” The victim is taken to emergency.
San Antonio, TX: Ashraf Khan, 32, is asked to leave his first-class seat on a Delta Airlines flight set for Dallas. According to Khan, the pilot said, “I’m not going to take you. Myself and my crew are not safe flying with you. They don’t feel safe.”
Parma, OH: A man rams his car into the Islamic Center of Cleveland in the early hours of morning. No one is injured.
September 18, 2001

Berkeley, CA: More than 100 protestors clog the lobby of UC Berkeley’s student publication, The Daily California, demanding an apology for an editorial cartoon that one student claims as “a vile form of ethnic characterization.”
Palmdale, CA: A note is posted at a public high school saying that the World Trade Center attacks would be avenged with a school massacre. The anonymous note lists the names of several Muslim students.
September 19, 2001

Washington D.C.: Satpreet Singh, a 21-year-old Web designer, is shot at by a man in a blue pickup truck on U.S. Interstate 15.
September 20, 2001

Rio Arriba, NM: A Sikh community in the northern New Mexico county, Rio Arriba, reports numerous cases of harassment.
Wiggins, MS: Hasnain Javed, a student of Pakistani descent, is detained by authorities for immigration violations. Placed in a large jail dormitory, he is beaten by inmates throughout the night as they yell derogatory remarks. He is eventually transferred and released.
Tacoma, WA: An arson attempt is made on the city’s only synagogue. Sunday’s attempt is the third apparent hate crime since the September 11 attacks. A week earlier, the message “Zionism plus U.S. equals 5,000 dead,” was found spray-painted on the synagogue’s parking lot.
September 24, 2001

Huntington Beach, CA: An elderly Iranian receives a verbal assault while out for a walk on Monday morning. In the assault, a white male drove past the couple, made an abrupt U-turn, parked the car in a side street and approached the couple on foot while threatening them and demanding to know where they were from. Steven James McManus, 43, is indicted as a suspect.
September 25, 2001

Tempe, AZ: A 19-year-old student of Indian descent at Arizona State University is pushed to the ground, punched and kicked in a parking lot near University Drive and McAllister Avenue at around 1 A.M. During the assault, the attackers make anti-Muslim remarks.
Also in Arizona, 42-year-old, Frank Silva Roque, the man suspected of killing Balbir Singh Sodhi, is indicted on nine charges, including first-degree murder, drive-by shooting, and endangerment.
September 28, 2001

Lancaster, CA: Two men in a white truck follow a Latino man — apparently mistaken as of Middle Eastern descent — to his home and beat him in his house. Mark Martin, 20, and Timothy Martin, 35, have been indicted on suspicion of assault and burglary against Gerald Pimental, 47.
San Francisco, CA: The Iranian American-owned City Blend Cafe has its windows smashed in. The owner is an outspoken critic of hate crimes and was the focus of a San Francisco Chronicle profile a week earlier.
September 29, 2001

Reedley, CA: A Yemeni grocer Abdo Ali Ahmed, 51, is killed at his convenience store after having received a death threat and a series of racial slurs.
September 30, 2001

San Diego, CA: Swaran Kaur Bhullar, a Sikh woman, was stopped at red light in her car on Miramar Road when two men on a motorcycle pulled up and attacked her. She is subsequently yanked from her car and stabbed twice in the head. She is rushed to the emergency room and released later in the day.
October 1, 2001

Ontario, CA: An unidentified man throws a Molotov cocktail at a hotel window. The room was occupied by a man of Middle Eastern descent.
October 5, 2001

Greensboro, NC: Yasir Hassan, a Pakistani student on a student visa at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, is attacked along with his friend in the front yard of his house by two truck and two carloads of men. He is punched and hit by a beer bottle in the head.
October 21, 2001

Anaheim, CA: A Diamond Bar man of South Asian descent is attacked outside of a bar by a group of Asian men. The victim, a physical therapist at USC University hospital, suffers a shattered jaw and is released from the hospital Monday.
November 18, 2001

San Diego, CA: Horatio Plascencia, 30, attacks a Middle Eastern service clerk with a screwdriver.
Palermo, NY: The Sikh Temple, Gobind Sadan USA, is severely damaged by an arson fire.
December 25, 2001

Washington D.C.: An Arab American Secret Service Agent en route to Texas to protect President Bush is asked to de-board an American Airlines flight.
December 29, 2001

Columbus, OH: The Islamic Center of Columbus suffers over $100,000 in damage after vandals drilled holes in the floor, desecrated copies of the Koran, and pulled water pipes from the walls flooding and saturating the mosque.
January 8, 2002

San Diego, CA: Horatio Plascencia, 40, pleaded guilty to battery during a hate crime in his November 18 attack on a Middle Eastern service station clerk. He is sentenced to six years in prison.
Salt Lake City, UT: James Herrick, 32, who attempted to set fire to a Pakistani American family’s business, is sentenced to more than four years of prison.
SOURCE: Asian Americans On War and Peace, edited by Russell C. Leong and Don T. Nakanishi, (Los Angeles: UCLA Asian American Studies Center Press, 2002)

This is the side America never talks about.These were Americans but their problems got swept under a rug.When Timothy Mcviegh(sp) did what he did i wonder how many people attacked people who looked like him.America needs to take this time to reflect on how to make this a better world for everybody.And stop the double standard once and for all.

Thank you Tom for sharing this..For the life if me I never understood why Bush was given credit for the way he reacted to Sept 11th. His calls for revenge, his *wanted: dead or alive* statements, his call to defend "american values"...all of these statements, to me, sounded like sure fire ways to insight many people in our own streets to take action in their own hands...


its sad that this is what many americans have done...and even worse that our media doesnt report on it...

bush is an ineffectual ignorant(check the thread on bush quotes) warmonger...he used the events of 9/11 and the susequent "war on terror" as a way 2 make the public 4get about how he robbed the election...pathetic that there still r "2nd class citizens" in 21st century america...more things change the more they stay the same...been happening as long as this country has xisted...the only thing that changes is which minority group is targeted by ignorant and violent ppl

SkletonKee said:

I'm not sure about others, but I'm really getting tired of the incessant blather about what horrible people we "americans" are. There are senseless, violent acts of hate that are racially, ethnically, and religiously motivated occurring WORLDWIDE. All of it is wrong.

Furthermore, the rather meaningless cataloging of selected events that started this thread would appear to indicate that our "media" have, in fact, faithfully reported the events.

The most nonsensical part of this thread deals with the geniuses who would blame our president for the violent acts of others. Bush is lame, but it is ludicrous to blame him for the random acts of violence such listed here. When will one of you demented people properly demonize the perpetrators of the heinous attacks of September 11, 2001.

Let's stop the self-flagellating bullshit. Really, shut-up already, damn!

___

TheMax said:

hey, buddy, calm down..share your minds but minus the ranting..please?

at anyrate...Sure you can blame a person for creating an enviroment that instigated people to go out and conduct these crimes...of course, the people who actually committed the crimes should be held responsible..did i say otherwise in my post? did i even bring up quilt in my post? all i was trying to point out was, Bush, in his ignorane added fuel to the fire...

maybe instead of getting *frustrated* with the constant hatred towards americans you should spend some of that energy trying to understand what has caused that hatred...

and please dont tell anyone to shut up..our country was founded on debate...speak your mind...but also lesson to opposing views..this is the only way *we* grow as humans...mmm-kkay?

TheMax said:

theC
If you are tired of reading "incessant blather" i got an idea..DON"T READ IT!!As for the people who attacked us TORCH THEM.As to the Americans who attacked OTHER AMERICANS because of nationality i say bring THEM up on terrorist charges and TORCH THEM ALSO.You support the "double standard" which is the U.S and won't admit or accecpt responsibility for the madness done to others.Why is the attacks on Arabs(Asians and Africans before this) in this country FORGOTTEN???Tell me genious since you know all and are the ONLY one qualified in your mind to talk.

UNFUCKINGBELEIVABLE. I read every one of them. These peoples names should be added to the list of 9/11 victims, and for the ones that survived, should be heralded as American Heroes for taking unecessary torture by idiots who think they are being patriotic.

Hey, buddy, it's September 11. I'm glad so are "calm." You and others here continue to mitigate the horror of the attacks of last year by trying to "understand what has caused the hatred." My desire to "understand" was nullified by the attacks.

I completely reject the "blame the victim" bullshit related to September 11. If you don't share that, fine. I have little interest in educating you, especially not today.

Lastly, please avoid telling me what the "contry was founded" upon. The "shut-up already, damn!" comment has special meaning at this site. I borrow it occasionally and use it as an expression of frustration.

TheMax said:

theC
OK...SHUT-UP ALREADY, DAMN :LOL:

I only posted the thread to highlight events that have been left out of the media.

Tom said:

Which media are you referring to? These and other hate crimes that occurred following September 11 were appropriately reported as they occurred. Otherwise how did you come by the reports that you have listed? That must have taken a lot of research, checking all of those local police logs!

I also clearly recall widely broadcast warnings from local and fedreal law enforcement that such hate crimes would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. To suggest that such crimes were "encouraged" by anyone, including 'ole Bush, is an inflammatory distortion.

And as far as Timothy McVeigh is concerned, his actions clearly resulted in a redoubling of efforts by federal and state law enforcement to investigate the crazy, right-wing paramilitary fringe that he derived from. After his terrorist act in Oklahoma City, I wonder if there were similar attempts by some of you to "understand" what drove him to blow up a building full of people. I imagine many of you "blaming" the government, saying that if it had not been for the governments heavy hand with the "martyrs" at Waco or RubyRidge, Oklahoma City would not have happened.

God help us (and I'm not even religious!).

TheMax,

you are going to seriously stand by hand your statement that these incidents were reported by the media? with the same rigor and frequency that the Israeli Suicide attacks are reported (which is a whole other bias issues..why are the Isreali attacks reported with far more importance than the attacks on Palestine?)? When suicide attacks occure you have front page stories, late breaking news, the ever so annoying scrolls on our tv screens...


yet, when these attacks on fellow americans occur, you get blurbs if anything about them...


and once again, please stop saying that we are blaming Bush for these incidents..We are only pointing out that his ignorant, ill chosen statements helped create an atmosphere where people felt compelled to attack fellow humans and fellow americans...

SkletonKee said:

Thank you

TheMax said:

"SOURCE: Asian Americans On War and Peace, edited by Russell C. Leong and Don T. Nakanishi, (Los Angeles: UCLA Asian American Studies Center Press, 2002)"

I'm appalled by what happened in PA, the Pentagon, and the World Trade Center. But I'm also appalled by how some Americans reacted. Whats the point in attacking ourselves? Aren't we above that?

You have got to be kidding! Yes, I "seriously stand by my statement" that these types of events are covered by the media. Don't hide behind the "blurb" concept. They are covered with the usual priority biases that are intrinsic to each media form that you would otherwise indict. Some do a good job, others do a horible job - big surprise. Maybe you subscribe to the wrong sources.

And I can assure you that when the suicide bombings occur here, they will receive vastly more coverage than the "blurbs" that seem to disappoint and disaffect you. Honestly, do you doubt that? Is a suicide bombing deserving of equal priority to being "chased down the street" or "receiving threatening phone calls"?

Chicago, IL: A firebomb is tossed at an Arab American community center.

Seattle, WA: Shots are fired at worshippers at a mosque and attempts were made to set the building on fire. Police have charged Patrick Cunningham, 53.
September 14, 2001

San Diego, CA: Swaran Kaur Bhullar, a Sikh woman, was stopped at red light in her car on Miramar Road when two men on a motorcycle pulled up and attacked her. She is subsequently yanked from her car and stabbed twice in the head. She is rushed to the emergency room and released later in the day.
October 1, 2001

Also in Arizona, 42-year-old, Frank Silva Roque, the man suspected of killing Balbir Singh Sodhi, is indicted on nine charges, including first-degree murder, drive-by shooting, and endangerment.
September 28, 2001

TheMax said:

theC
If you read it fully you'll see some were KILLED and alot SURVIVED the attacks from other Americans.Like i said the people that attacked us(for whatever reason)have got to pay for what they done.But the same also applies for the Americans that attack other Americans in this country.And don't deny that as a leader Bush should have shown more responsibility by using better words instead of lighting a powder keg.Many a man has been locked up for what his WORDS have done(try yelling fire in a movie theater or bomb on a airplane).You know the risk involved in these words...so should he.

These incidents involved either life threatning injuries or death and I had never heard of them until this date...and i consider myself well versed on current affairs...


did you even read the initial post?

A nice review of media reporting, law enforcement investigation, and indictment of the criminals. And your point is...?

___

SkletonKee said:

Don't feel badly. Even "well versed" persons can overlook reported events. If this is the first you've read of specific hate crimes that occurred after September 11, I really don't think that you can blame the media, nor would I announce to the org that I'm "well versed on current affairs."

That fact that these events are listed in the initial post begs the question regarding reporting. Now I feel like I'm wasting my time with responses.

Do you also not remember the Attorney General of the United States warning Americans that hate crimes directed against Arab-Americans, in the aftermath of September 11th, are completely unacceptable and that those who commit such crimes would be prosecuted?

TheMax said:

i think this post tells it all.

TheMax said:

theC
I do remember that and was glad to see the government take charge of a very bad situation.My question is about the attitude of AMERICANS.This is 2002 and we still attack people based on RACE!!But when it was Timothy Mcviegh no one who looked like him was attacked.Can you elaborate on THIS please?In this day and age i thought we would be a little BIGGER than this and not just pick on some defenseless American who is HEAVILY outnumbered.What separates us from the terrorist????
[This message was edited Wed Sep 11 13:16:27 PDT 2002 by theC]

TheMax said:

No, im not saying I havent heard about hate crimes committed after Sept 11th. But, I did not hear about *these* specific cases... and something tells me you understood that too...funny joke though...

so with that in mind, ya..you are wasting your time...if you cant see the difference between a College Report and a CNN Newsbreak or an ABC, CBS, NBC Network report then you are blinded by your own beliefs...

College Reports: Circulation 5000 people
CNN News: 1,000,000,000 average viewers

see the difference?




lube the edit!!!
[This message was edited Wed Sep 11 13:14:23 PDT 2002 by SkletonKee]

theC said:

I've brought up that aspect to people within the past year too. Never get an answer though.

Supernova said:

theC
I know alot of people will say i'm trying to start racial shit but that's not the case.To me it's seems obvious that we still have along way to go as a country of various backgrounds.I meet WONDERFUL people of every race and background.I would feel pain if something happened to anyone of them.And if a white/arab/mexican/asian killed a member of my family.I would not go out and attack someone just because they LOOKED like the person who did the crime.At some point we have to grow as a people.It first starts with acceptance that there is a problem.

theC said:

Finally, an acknowledgement of our collective condemnation of hate crimes. No one gets to claim the moral high ground on such an obvious issue.



And my point is that this is not an "American" problem - it exists worldwide. If your point is that we have to the resources and diversity to rise above this hate, then I agree with you. But sadly it seems we're no more enlightened, on average, in this regard than other societies.



Actually, I have no information to support or refute your observation. I know you are not suggesting that such attacks should have occurred. Might his whiteness have thwarted race-based hate crimes? Yes. But that speaks to the problem that we all condemn: racially based attacks against another person are wrong. On the other hand, I think it is highly likely that those who looked like "skinheads" were the victims of hate crimes in the aftermath of Oklahoma City. Perhaps Tom can research that for us.



This is where you lose me. If you are confused about the differences between the perpetrators of the September 11 attacks and those who committed crimes listed in the initial post, then we are at an impasse. All such attacks are wrong, but the attackers of September 11 have no parallel in modern history.