News of another hate crime out of Southern California... This week in Jurupa Valley, California, a Sikh house of worship was vandalized with hate speech: 'Terrorist' marked outside Sikh place of worship.
Sometime Monday night, some ignorant asshole spray-painted the word "terrorist" on the walls outside the Sikh Gurdwara of Riverside. This apparently isn't the first time the temple has been vandalized in its twenty-plus year history, but it's the first time the graffiti has involved hate speech.
The Riverside County Sheriff's Department is investigating the vandalism as a hate crime.
Birpal Kaur, community relations manager of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund in Los Angeles and not related to Bhupinder Kaur, said these incidents happen several times each year nationwide.More here: Sikh temple vandalized with spray-paint in Jurupa Valley.
“This is definitely a hate crime,” Birpal Kaur said. “It was very purposely targeted toward a minority community.”
Hate crimes are criminal acts against an individual of group because of their actual or perceived race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sexual orientation, gender or disability, according to the state Penal Code.
Hate crimes can be charged as misdemeanors or felonies. Felony convictions with the hate crime enhancement can result in an additional one to four years in prison.
