SALDEF Hosts 19th Know Your Rights Forum in Lawrenceville, NJ

Speakers

On Sunday, March 4th, 2018, SALDEF organized the 19th Know Your Rights Forum in Lawrenceville, NJ at the Sikh Sabha Gurdwara. The forum was attended by approximately 300 members of the Sangat. The speakers included, Mr. Harpreet Singh Mokha of the Department of Justice Community Relations Service, Mr. John Paige from the NJ-Department of Homeland Security, Mr. Anthony Zampogna and Mr. Arnold B. Adams from the FBI and Mr. David Leonardis from the New Jersey Attorney General Office.

The speakers at the19th Know Your Rights talked about many topics affecting the Sikh community. There was a strong emphasis on interpreting and dealing with bias. Bias incidents are an offense against a person or property motivated by the offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability or ethnic origin, BUT may not rise to the level of a crime.  According to Mr. Leonardis of the NJ Attorney General, “every local police department has a bias crime officer,” who will assist in evaluating and reporting the incident. According to Anthony Zampogna of the FBI, “It is not easy to evaluate whether you are dealing with a matter of just hateful language to you or whether it is a crime – and you are not alone in figuring that out.”

If you are unable to attend a Know Your Rights Forum please check out our Youtube page to watch clips from this past forum in Lawrenceville NJ.

We would like to Thank Mr. Jangpartap Singh of the Sikh Sabha Gurdwara who helped us organize the event.

SALDEF is committed to empowering the Sikh American community nationwide about their rights and how to exercise them without fear or hesitation.

 If you feel your local Sangat could benefit from a Know Your Rights forum, please complete this form or contact know-your-rights@saldef.org.

Join us now to support SALDEF’s critical work at this pivotal time.