On the morning of January 13, a swastika and the words “white power” were discovered on a sign in front of a Sikh temple in the Sacramento area.
The Sacramento Bee reports the targeted Sikh temple is the Guru Maneyo Granth Gurdwara Sahib Sikh Center in Orangevale, which celebrated its official grand opening on January 12. The graffiti has been painted over and is being investigated as a hate crime.
Temple volunteer Dimple Bhullar told the Bee, “We’re a very peaceful religion. We accept all religions as equal and just want the respect from other religions that we give to them. We would appreciate the same for any of our places of worship.”
Sikh Coalition attorney Cindy Nesbit told Fox 40, “We are grateful to local law enforcement for responding immediately to this ugly vandalism, and expect them to continue investigating it as a bias-motivated incident. Now is the time for the community to stand together and denounce racism with one shared voice.”
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted, “As incidents of #hate escalate nationwide, it is incredibly disturbing to see houses of worship targeted. We stand strong with the Sikh community against this display of bigotry.”
A Sikh spiritual center was defaced with racist “white power” graffiti. As incidents of #hate escalate nationwide, it is incredibly disturbing to see houses of worship targeted. We stand strong with the Sikh community against this display of bigotry. https://t.co/BDx4h0CIA6
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) January 14, 2020
