JOLIET, Ill. — Illinois’ Joliet Police Department is in hot water for the recent assault of a Sikh American by one of its police officers. The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund is seeking an immediate probe into the attack, calling it racially motivated and xenophobic. Kuldip Singh Nag, a decorated U.S. Navy veteran, was accosted by the police officer in his home for an expired vehicle registration tag. An altercation ensued and the officer assaulted Nag with his pepper spray and baton while saying anti-immigrant statements. “We are horrified at the anti-immigrant sentiment the officer allegedly used as he violently accosted Mr. Nag, and further that his 6-year-old son was a witness to this violent assault. We call upon both Joliet and Illinois officials to investigate this incident and for the Illinois community to stand in solidarity with Mr. Nag,” said SALDEF managing director Kavneet Singh.
Illinois Cop Assaults Sikh American Veteran
SALDEF, SABA-DC and NASABA organize forum to inform business owners about their rights and obligations under DC, Virginia, Maryland and federal law Washington D.C. – April 13, 2007: The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) has partnered with the South Asian Bar Association of Washington D.C. (SABA-DC) and the National South Asian Bar Association (NASABA) to organize a Know Your Rights Outreach and Compliance Seminar for Convenience Store and Gas Station Owners in the Virginia, Maryland, and Metro DC areas on April 22, 2007 at the National Gurdwara in Washington, D.C. Federal and State authorities have begun to strictly regulate the sale of everyday cold medications that can be used to manufacture the illegal and highly dangerous drug methamphetamine (also known as “Meth”). In 2005, 44 South Asian convenience store clerks and owners were arrested for selling ingredients that could have been used to create methamphetamine, but many of these people were unaware of the law and their rights. As a result, some of the storeowners lost their businesses and were deported back to India and Pakistan. Due to the increased use of cold medicines purchased at retail outlets by illegal methamphetamine manufacturers and drug addicts, Congress enacted the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005. This law establishes requirements for selling products containing ephedrine and pseudo ephedrine, which can be used for illegal production of methamphetamine. Across the nation, sellers of products containing these ingredients must follow the new law and the regulations it imposes on them. In addition, some states have enacted their own laws which in some instances may be tougher than the federal law. What: Know Your Rights Forum: Outreach and Compliance Seminar for Convenience and Gas Store Owners in the VA, MD, and DC areas When: Sunday, April 22nd — 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Where: National Gurdwara 3801 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20016 Who: Hassan Ahmed, Immigration Attorney; Law Offices of Nubani & Hassan, VA Manubir Arora, Criminal Defense Attorney; Atlanta, GA Vivek Chopra, Former State Prosecutor; Montgomery County, MD Dave Vatti, Federal Prosecutor; United States Attorney’s Office, CT SALDEF, SABA-DC and NASABA would like to ensure that local business owners are aware of their rights and obligations under District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland, and federal law. For more information about this event, visit www.saldef.org or contact AS202-393-2700 or info@saldef.org
GROUP SEEKS PROBE April 13, 2007 By BRIAN STANLEY Staff Writer JOLIET — A man says a police officer used excessive force and racial epithets while arresting him last month. The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) e-mailed a press release Thursday asking for an investigation into the March 30 incident. Joliet police Cmdr. Keith Turney said Thursday the department had not been contacted by the representatives of the man arrested, Kuldip Nag, 49, or SALDEF. “We have not received any complaint,” Turney said. “The first we learned of this was from the media.” Around 3 p.m. March 30, police responded to “an anonymous citizen complaint” regarding a vehicle parked on Nag’s driveway at 3574 Buck Ave. An unidentified officer spoke with Nag’s wife, Vera, about the van’s expired plates and learned the vehicle was inoperable. “The officer put a seven-day tow notice on the vehicle when he was approached by Mr. Nag, who questioned why he was putting a sticker on a vehicle in his driveway,” Turney said. “The vehicle was in public sight and there is a city ordinance against (parking inoperable vehicles),” he said. “Mr. Nag was upset the officer was on his private property telling him to move a vehicle he owned,” said SALDEF spokesman Rajbir Singh Datta. Both police reports and SALDEF’s release indicate a struggle followed between Nag and the police officer. Police say Nag pushed the officer and was subdued with pepper spray. SALDEF contends Nag did not touch the officer before he was sprayed. “As Mr. Nag screamed in agony, the officer removed his baton and violently struck Mr. Nag numerous times until he fell to the ground,” SALDEF’s release said. “While the assault ensued, the officer was reported by both Mr. and Mrs. Nag as saying, ‘You (expletive) Arab! You (expletive) immigrant, go back to your (expletive) country before I kill you.'” Turney said reports do not indicate the officer made these statements and that he was requesting backup during the struggle. He ceased struggling with Nag before other officers arrived. Datta said Vera Nag photographed her husband’s arrest. “She was so shocked and stunned at the officer’s behavior she went into the house and got a camera just inside the door,” Datta said. Nag was arrested on charges of aggravated battery to a police officer and resisting a police officer. As he was being booked at the police station, he complained of pain and was taken to Silver Cross Hospital. “Nag stayed for five days due to complaints of intense pain and head trauma,” SALDEF’s statement said. He “also received numerous bruises and a serious head injury which have caused him to go blind for several minutes at a time.” Nag was booked into the county jail following his release from the hospital April 3 and released on bond the next day. “He spoke to a community member who advised him to contact us,” Datta said. Datta said a letter detailing the incident and asking for an investigation was sent to the police department earlier this week. Datta said Thursday another letter would be sent after police said they had not received the first one. Reporter Brian Stanley can be reached at (815) 729-6079 or bstanley@scn1.com [http://heraldnews.suntimes.com/index.html] Joliet Herald News
SALDEF calls for immediate probe into assault and the xenophobic, anti-immigrant statements by police officer against bronze star recipient Washington D.C., April 11, 2007 — The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the oldest Sikh American civil rights and advocacy organization in the country, today called upon the Joliet Police Department to investigate the actions of one of its officers when patrolling a local neighborhood. On Friday March 30, 2007 at around 3:00pm, Mr. Kuldip Singh Nag, a Sikh American who was awarded the Bronze Star for his service in the U.S. Navy during the first Gulf War, was at his home in Joliet, IL when a local police officer noticed that a van parked on Mr. Nag’s private property had expired registration tags. Upon being confronted with this, Mr. Nag’s wife, Vera Kaur Nag, informed the officer that the van is parked on their driveway and was inoperable. Mr. Nag then came outside to answer the officer’s questions regarding the van. The Joliet police officer then demanded that Mr. Nag park the van inside his garage and not on the driveway, to which Mr. Nag responded to the officer that it was not possible and that regardless, the van is parked on his private property and he has a right to park it on his driveway. At this moment, the officer pulled out his pepper spray and attacked Mr. Nag. As Mr. Nag screamed in agony, the officer removed his baton and violently struck Mr. Nag numerous times until he fell to the ground. While the assault ensued, the officer was reported by both Mr. and Mrs. Nag as saying, “You f****** Arab! You f***** immigrant, go back to you f****** country before I kill you!” Mr. Nag’s wife and six year-old child both witnessed the violent assault, which resulted in Mr. Nag immediately being admitted to the hospital where he stayed for five days due to complaints of intense pain and head trauma. Mr. Nag also received numerous bruises and a serious head injury which have caused him to go blind for several minutes at a time “This case seems to be a clear incident of police misconduct in Illinois,” said SALDEF Managing Director Kavneet Singh. “We are horrified at the anti-immigrant sentiment the officer allegedly used as he violently accosted Mr. Nag, and further that his six year old son was a witness to this violent assault. We call upon both Joliet and Illinois officials to investigate this incident and for the Illinois community to stand in solidarity with Mr. Nag.” SALDEF has garnered the strong support of the Illinois Sikh American community and is currently working with The Chawla Group Ltd to represent Mr. Nag in a criminal case brought on by the City of Joliet.
Participants turn out to celebrate their religion and bring awareness to recent hate crimes. By Jia-Rui Chong, Times Staff Writer April 9, 2007 With gold- and orange-fringed parade floats and the sound of harmoniums playing traditional hymns, more than 10,000 members of the Sikh community paraded through downtown Los Angeles on Sunday. Many participants wore traditional Sikh turbans as they celebrated Baisakhi, a harvest holiday that commemorates a key moment in the development of the religion. On the minds of many were recent hate crimes, made all the worse as they were apparently provoked by mistaken identity. “People don’t know. They think we’re Muslims,” said Raj Singh, 66, a Brea resident who was watching a float go by. “I hope, for the people standing on the road, or seeing this from their roofs, this will enlighten them.” Last month, a Redding man rammed a construction tractor into a Sikh temple and reportedly told police that he thought the building was owned by Arabs. Sikh leaders say such incidents have become more common since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. “People see Osama bin Laden with a turban and beard, and they see us as the same because of ignorance,” said Sarbjit Singh, who teaches children about Sikh religion and culture at the Sikh Study Circle in Los Angeles. (None of the Singhs interviewed for this article are related.) Sarbjit Singh, 45, said that he doesn’t blame anybody for the harassment and that the Sikh efforts should not be taken to mean that the community believes it’s acceptable to discriminate against Muslims. “It hurts us when anybody gets harassed,” he said. Kavneet Singh, the Oakland-based managing director of the national Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, said his office gets calls every month about acts of discrimination or misunderstanding about the religion. In one case this year, he said, a man was refused entrance to a bar in Costa Mesa because owners had a policy of not allowing hats — and he was wearing a turban. “There’s a real need for us to be more engaged in our communities,” said Kavneet Singh. “We need to introduce ourselves to our neighbors and make sure local law enforcement know who we are.” Baisakhi, which marks the year’s first harvest and the day when a principal guru in Anandpur Sahib, India, codified the religion’s spiritual and personal codes of conduct. For example, adherents keep their hair long and wear turbans as crowns of spirituality. Sikhism is the world’s fifth-largest religion with about 23 million practitioners worldwide. About 15 Sikh temples around California came together for the event. Daman Singh, 55, of Anaheim Hills said her family comes every year to L.A. to celebrate Baisakhi, which is also considered an auspicious day to get married. “It’s like people celebrate Christmas every year,” she said. As parade-goers talked about how the holiday is celebrated in India, Daman Singh pointed to a small boy who was in her husband’s arms. “This is for our grandson, to show him the culture of our land,” she said. Onlookers leaving the Lakers game at nearby Staples Center were at first puzzled by the glittering floats and sea of people, many of them in fancy embroidered versions of the traditional long shirt and pants known as shalwar kameez. Christian Portillo, 13, of Inglewood wondered, “Weren’t they a bunch of Islamic people?” Christian’s friend Cameron Harris, 13, of Gardena knew the difference. Cameron said he had asked one of the people in the parade what was going on and found out that they were celebrating a Sikh holiday. He said he understood his friend’s confusion because many ethnic groups wear turbans. “I got the message that they were trying to explain themselves and not be seen as outsiders,” Cameron said. “They look like good people to me.”
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