Sikh taxi driver assaulted by passengers in hate crime

Harkirat Singh was assaulted by drunken passengers who called him racial slurs and ripped off his turban.


Harkirat Singh (Photo Credit: New York Daily News)
In New York, a Sikh taxi driver was assaulted by a group of drunken passengers who called him racial slurs and ripped his turban off his head. Police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. (No shit.)

Sikh taxi driver assaulted, turban stolen by drunken passenger in the Bronx

25-year-old Harkirat Singh, who wears a turban and unshorn beard in observance of his Sikh faith, was driving a woman and three men in their early 20s from Madison Square Garden to the Bronx early Sunday morning when the passengers began to physically assault him and rip off his turban.

Muslim cab driver shot in Thanksgiving hate crime

"You seem to be like a Pakistani guy. Are you from Pakistan?"



Another anti-Muslim hate crime. In Pittsburgh, a Muslim taxi driver was hospitalized after being shot in the back on Thanksgiving Day by a passenger who questioned him about his citizenship and ties to terrorism.

Muslim taxi driver shot on Thanksgiving in Hazelwood calls attack a hate crime

The driver, a 38-year-old Moroccan immigrant who is requesting to remain anonymous, picked up a passenger outside the Rivers Casino early Thursday morning. During the ride, the man began asking the driver about his background, and questioned him about ISIS.

"He started the conversation and began to ask questions like, 'You seem to be like a Pakistani guy. Are you from Pakistan?'" the driver told the Pittsburg Post-Gazette. "And I said, 'No, I'm from Morocco. But I'm an American guy.' Then he continued the conversation. He began to speak about ISIS killing people."

When they reached his destination, the passenger asked the driver to wait because he forgot his wallet in the house. Minutes later, the man emerged from the house carrying a rifle. That's when the driver took off, but not before the man fired several shots at him:

Man sentenced in hate crime attack on Sikh cab driver

50-year-old Jamie Larson sentenced to 40 months in federal prison


Last week in Seattle, a man was sentenced to 40 months in federal prison for viciously beating a Sikh cab driver last year while making racist statements about Muslims during a brutal hate attack.

Federal Way man gets 40 months in attack on Sikh cabdriver

50-year-old Jamie Larson, described as a "blackout-binge alcholic," brutally attacked taxi driver Kashmira Hothi, who is an immigrant from India and happens to be Sikh, not Muslim -- not that it f*%king mattered to this asshole -- in a drunken, racist assault. He kicked, punched and stomped on Hothi while pulling out part of his beard and making disparaging, hateful remarks about Islam and Muslims.

According to prosecutors, Hothi was hospitalized for eight days with a concussion and other injuries. He couldn't work for two months and required months of physical therapy because of his injuries.

It all started one day in October 2012, when Larson was found passed out drunk in the bushes:

Student pleads guilty to hate crime attack on cab driver

Catching up on some news from last week... In New York City, a college student will face a 9 1/2 year prison sentence for viciously assaulting a Bangladeshi taxi driver in a hateful anti-Muslim attack: Michael Enright Pleads Guilty To Anti-Muslim Attack On NYC Cab Driver.

Cab driver Ahmed Sharif picked up Michael Enright on August 24, 2012. Enright asked Sharif whether he was Muslim, insulted his religion, then lunged into the front seat to slash his throat.

Enright pleaded guilty to attempted murder and assault as hate crimes. The prosecution recommended an 18-year prison sentence, but the judge imposed the lesser prison sentence, plus five years of post-release supervision because Enright had no previous criminal record and because the victim wasn't badly hurt:

Cab driver beaten into coma

A guy almost beats a cabbie to death... and now he's out on bail like no big deal?

In New York, a man has been arrested in the brutal near-fatal beating of a Queens taxi driver in the early hours of New Year's Day after a dispute over the fare: Upstate New York man arrested in brutal beating of Queens cabbie.

28-year-old Andrew McElroy allegedly refused to pay his fare, then punched 53-year-old cab driver Kichun Kim repeatedly in the face until he was unconscious. Kim has reportedly been in a coma ever since.

Meanwhile, McElroy has been charged with assault and not paying the fare -- a misdemeanor -- and issued a violation for harassment. And now he's out on $10,000 bail. Weak. Kim's family is demanding justice.

More here: Cabbie beaten into coma; suspect out on bail.