Tag: Wisconsin

Boston bombing editorial cartoon. (source: Denver Post)

What, or who, is “terrorism” in America?

April 22, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In The Guardian, Glenn Greenwald compares the application of the word “terrorism” in the case of last week’s Boston Marathon bombing against recent previous acts of mass violence in the United States: It’s hard not to suspect that the only thing distinguishing the Boston attack from Tucson, Aurora, Sandy Hook and Columbine (to say nothing of the US “shock and awe” attack on Baghdad and the mass killings in Fallujah) is that the accused Boston attackers are Muslim and the […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes • Tags: Arizona, Barack Obama, Boston, Boston Marathon, Columbine, Connecticut, Glenn Greenwald, Guardian, Massachusetts, Newtown, Oak Creek, Salon, Sandy Hook, Terrorism, Tucson, Wajahat Ali, Wisconsin

Addressing domestic terrorism needs renewed focus

April 10, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

An article in the Dayton Daily News discusses white supremacist gangs in Ohio’s state prisons, and how that plague is now being seen outside of the prison system as well: “These guys are no joke,” said Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. “This isn’t a club. These are tough, hard-core criminals. They’re nasty and we have to take them deadly seriously.” After recent violence in Texas and Colorado that has allegedly been at the hands of white supremacists, the issue of […]

Categories: Hate Crimes • Tags: Aryan Brotherhood, hate crimes, Oak Creek, Ohio, prison gangs, SpearIt, White supremacy, Wisconsin

Arsonist in Green Bay, WI, charged with hate crime against Sikh man

March 12, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

On March 5, a man walked into a small retail store owned by a Sikh man in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and then set fire to the cash register using gasoline. According to the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the county district attorney is now charging the perpetrator with a hate crime based on his comments that were recorded in the police report: [James] Parrish stated that he was going to “burn [the] place down.” He also stated […]

Categories: Hate Crimes • Tags: Green Bay, hate crimes, Oak Creek, SALDEF, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wisconsin

Kamaljit Saini, son of Oak Creek shooting victim Paramjit Kaur, is waiting for the FBI to release its full report into the attack. (source: Fox 6 Now)

Oak Creek, WI, victim families still waiting for answers from FBI

March 6, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In November of last year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) closed its investigation into the Oak Creek, Wisconsin mass shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in which six innocent worshipers were murdered by a white supremacist. The FBI issued a one-page press release stating that there was “no evidence to suggest the attack was part of any ongoing threat to the Sikh community.” At the time, the FBI declined to provide additional information, and the victims’ families expressed […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes • Tags: FBI, FBI Hate Crime Statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigation, hate crimes, Kamaljit Saini, Oak Creek, Paramjit Kaur, Sikh Coalition, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wisconsin

An editorial cartoon comparing accessibility of mental health and guns.

Profiling the mentally ill in the gun violence debate

February 22, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Yesterday, in a speech delivered at a conference in Connecticut about gun violence, Vice President Joe Biden issued a challenge to Americans to take on the issue: “There’s a moral price to be paid for inaction,” he said. We have certainly seen significant debate around what action to take in addressing America’s gun violence epidemic. From universal background checks to regulation of video games, and from arming teachers to banning assault-style weapons, there are no shortage of proposals nor sides […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Politics • Tags: Adam Lanza, Anders Breivik, Aurora, Balbir Kaur Singh, Chris Dodd, Colorado, Concetta Falcone-Codding, Connecticut, Daryl Johnson, gun violence, hate crimes, Joe Biden, mental health, Michael Denzyl Smith, Motion Picture Association of America, Newtown, Oak Creek, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Sikholars, Wade Michael Page, White supremacy, Wisconsin

President Barack Obama delivers his 2013 State of the Union address on February 12. (source: Muck Rack)

President Obama, the State of the Union, and the Americans of Oak Creek

February 13, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Last night, it was likely for the first time in the history of State of the Union addresses that the word “Sikh” was uttered by the President of the United States when speaking to a joint session of Congress about his legislative agenda. In his State of the Union speech last night, President Obama paid tribute to Oak Creek, Wisconsin, hero Lieutenant Brian Murphy: We should follow the example of a police officer named Brian Murphy. When a gunman opened […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes, Politics • Tags: Barack Obama, Lt. Brian Murphy, Oak Creek, President of the United States, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, State of the Union, Wisconsin

A Sikh man holds a photo of Lt. Brian Murphy during a vigil in front of the White House on August 8, 2012 to commemorate the victims of the Wisconsin Sikh Temple shooting and other victims of hate. (source: Leader-Telegram. Photo credit: AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Oak Creek, WI, hero Lt. Brian Murphy speaks about attack and life since

February 11, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In a recent interview with the Hindustan Times, Lieutenant Brian Murphy of the Oak Creek Police Department talks about the attack on Sikhs in Oak Creek, Wisconsin six months ago in which he took 15 bullets by the attacker, and reflects: The kind of activism that happened in Oak Creek post the tragedy should have happened before the tragedy. Every community has to be pro-active. Hate crime is not about anything but about being ignorant. One of the tenets of […]

Categories: Hate Crimes • Tags: hate crimes, Lt. Brian Murphy, Oak Creek, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Wisconsin

"Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker takes questions about his proposal to increase mental health funding by $30 million that he announced on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013, in Madison. Walker will propose the funding in his two-year state budget to be introduced on Feb. 20." (source: LaCross Tribune. Photo credit: Scott Bauer | Associated Press)

Would mental health services or gun control have prevented the Oak Creek massacre?

February 8, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

On Wednesday, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker announced plans to invest $30 million towards mental health in his state to address gun violence, particularly after the mass shooting of Sikhs in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, last August: “Initially, the discussion centered on those tragedies,” he said. “But it’s really much bigger than that, it’s much broader than that, it’s not just in reaction to that. There is a tremendous need in terms of addressing mental health in our society.” The intention behind […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Hate Crimes • Tags: Connecticut, gun control, hate crimes, mental health, Milwaukee, Oak Creek, Scott Walker, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Stamford, White supremacy, Wisconsin

Six months since the Oak Creek, WI, Gurdwara shooting

February 5, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

Today marks six months since the mass shooting of Sikhs in their place of worship by a white supremacist in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. In recognition of this span of time, filmmakers Valarie Kaur and Sharat Raju released a short film entitled Oak Creek: In Memoriam which recounts that fateful moment and the days since. On this day, the Sikh Coalition provided an update about their activities in the Oak Creek, Wisconsin, area in educating city officials, law enforcement and school […]

Categories: Hate Crimes, Reflections • Tags: Oak Creek, Oak Creek: In Memoriam, Sharat Raju, Sikh Coalition, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Steve Scaffidi, Valarie Kaur, White supremacy, Wisconsin