Sikh Temple Graffiti Vandalism Leads To Call For Hate Crime Investigation

A Sikh temple or gurdwara under construction in Sterling Heights, Mich., was recently vandalized with graffiti, in what some are calling a hate crime.

The incident occurred late Sunday night or early Monday morning and is currently under investigation by the Sterling Heights Police Department. The graffiti on the building's outside wall depicts a gun and a Christian cross. Also legible are the words "Mohmed," potentially a reference to the Islamic prophet Mohammed, "Dont Builed," "fcuk you" and the letters "R" and "A."

Sterling Heights Police Public Information Officer Lt. Luke Riley said Wednesday nothing left at the site has helped identify the culprit. He said media attention to the case may cause a witness to step forward. Anyone with further information is asked to contact the department directly.

The graffiti's possible reference to Mohammed, the Islamic prophet who is not a figure in the Sikh religion, has caused some to argue the defacement was directed at Muslims, Michigan Radio reports.

The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) contacted local and state officials asking them to investigate the incident as a hate crime.

"We call upon local and federal law enforcement agencies to rightfully classify this incident as a hate crime and bring the perpetrators to justice to show that hate and violence are not tolerable in our society," SALDEF Associate Executive Director Jasjit Singh said in a statement.

The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) has also urged the incident be investigated as a hate crime, according to WXYZ.

The U.S. Department of Justice in Detroit has met with members of the Sikh congregation, but it's not clear how they might be involved in the investigation. SALDEF also contacted the office of the U.S. Attorney.

"Attacks and vandalism against any of the nation's houses of worship must be condemned by all Americans," said Singh.

According to WXYZ, The gurdwara is due to be finished in the summer and will serve 225 families.

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Comments

[mugwhump]

07:05 AM on 02/10/2012

Nothing was spelled right. Every hood knows how to spell the curse word in the picture. What would lead them to believe it was done by a person not of their faith when it was stated they had no evidence?

[Andres64]

03:56 PM on 02/09/2012

"Hate crimes" are bull. They are thought crimes.

Nineteen Eighty-four anyone?

[Ambidextre]

07:51 PM on 02/10/2012

Well if you think about it, all crimes are thought crimes. The crime is always committed in the mind. If you pick up someone else's belonging by mistake, it is not theft. But the same act when committed with purpose is theft. If you swung your arm for some reason but accidentally hit someone, they might get angry but they will understand if they found out you weren't trying to hit them, but do the same thing with purpose and it's a fight. Premeditated murder and involuntary manslaughter are very different although the outcome is the same. The action is the just the physical manifestation of the crime that has already been committed in someone's mind.

[Andres64]

08:56 PM on 02/10/2012

But intent, to harm or not, is different from motivation. One's motivation should be irrelevant. How is ki//ing someone because of their color of skin, gender, nationality, whatever, any worse than ki//ing someone because of the color of their hat or the size of their nose?

[MarconiDarwin]

03:48 PM on 02/09/2012

"Attacks and vandalism against any of the nation's houses of worship must be condemned by all Americans," said Singh.
--

"Attacks and vandalism must be condemned by all Americans," is preferable.

[milles manson]

03:31 PM on 02/09/2012

i could care less about christians or muslims,but something like this is cowardly,its like posting anonoumous.i particularly dont care for catholics and their priest if you want to call them that.

[Watching rock grow]

01:28 PM on 02/09/2012

Ignorance is not knowing who are the traditional enemies of Islam. I hope the local policie are not as ignorant.

[Caernarvon]

11:40 AM on 02/09/2012

This is the wrong way to go about airing one's grievances with any group of people, and fully deserves to be condemned.

[ycplum]

11:37 AM on 02/09/2012

Their ignorance is an embarrassment to America.

[brokerthanu]

04:28 PM on 02/12/2012

So is their spelling.

[iLdoRight]

11:07 AM on 02/09/2012

When you live in a country that hypes "ATTITUDE" to the hilt and does so little Bible study you have to expect that sort of things, the Atheist who repeatedly claim you don't need the Bible to be a good person do so little to encourage all the hoodlum types to be nice decent people.

[BurtonDesque]

11:22 AM on 02/09/2012

You have it exactly backwards. Studies show that the more Christian a place in America is, the less morally the people behave.

[iLdoRight]

05:14 PM on 02/09/2012

I doubt that any of those who did any of the "studies" knew enough about the differences between those who are 'true" Christians and those who are only impostors working for Satan as "pretend Christians" as Jesus indicated there would be at John 8:44, Matthew 7:22,23 and other places. Any chance you will ever consider "true" Christianity ?

[Caernarvon]

11:42 AM on 02/09/2012

I don't really think we can attribute this incident to a lack of Christianity in the lives of the perpetrators.

[iLdoRight]

05:08 PM on 02/09/2012

I think your error is probably in that you don't understand what "true" Christianity is. If you did you would know that two of the most predominate recommendations from Our Creator are, "be as innocent and harmless as doves" Matthew 10:16 and "who ever stumbles one of these little ones who have put faith in me" Matthew 18:6 which seems to mean you can never know who has even the smallest seed of Christianity starting to grow in their mind and heart so one should be extra careful that they never do anything that could be considered by Our Creator as stepping on the fingers of someone who is trying to get up off the ground and grow into a "true" Christian.

[sandalwood]

10:49 AM on 02/09/2012

How weird. Sikhs were brutalized by the Muslims in India. Even some of their Gurus were tortured and killed.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_and_Sikhism

"The spread of Islam in South Asia was greatly aided by many Islamic dynasties that ruled parts of the Indian subcontinent starting from the 12th century. The prominent ones include the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526) and the Mughal Empire (1526–1857). The Sikh gurus frequently came into direct confrontation with some of the Mughal rulers due to the Sikh faith's opposition to forced conversions."

[rockysparks]

10:03 AM on 02/09/2012

Haters can't spell, as this graffiti demonstrates ...

[GraphicMatt]

11:53 AM on 02/09/2012

Haters are also too stu pid to know that SIkhs and Muslims are nothing alike.

[rockysparks]

02:46 PM on 02/09/2012

As this article wisely noted.

[Gurcharan Singh]

04:11 AM on 02/09/2012

It is crazy that Sikhs who live truly to the originalitry of human identity are being always targetted by those who have abandonned the identity given by God.Racist are void of any intelligence.Sikhism teaches service to humanity, and service with humility to teh needy despite being of any color, race and creed.Pls visit your nearest Sikh Gurduara to see the humane qualities of Sikhs and Sikhism serving through the congregational kitchen to all that come.This is the success of The Bank of Guru Nanak, that has grown over the last 550 years without floundering, as it based soundly upon the basic principles of Kirt kamai-Honest hard work and earnings, Wand Shakna- share that with the needy and Poor,and Nam japna- recite the Name of God for spiritual uplifting and temporal power of each's self- so that we will all do good things towards each other aand coporately.

[demcratville]

08:55 PM on 02/08/2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=htcrNQYBAKA

[Wookiee1972]

08:47 AM on 02/09/2012

This, of course, has absolutely nothing to do with the story, which is about Sikhs.

[RedIvan88]

10:01 AM on 02/09/2012

You know that Sikhism is a completely different religion than Islam right?