BY A STAFF REPORTER
BUENA PARK, CA – A 20-year-old man was arrested Dec 9 on suspicion of vandalizing the Gurdwara Sigh Sahib here and a truck in the gurdwara parking lot on Dec 6. Brodie Durazo, a resident of the Buena Park Manor trailer park in close proximity to the gurdwara, was arrested by the Buena Park police.
BUENA PARK, CA – A 20-year-old man was arrested Dec 9 on suspicion of vandalizing the Gurdwara Sigh Sahib here and a truck in the gurdwara parking lot on Dec 6. Brodie Durazo, a resident of the Buena Park Manor trailer park in close proximity to the gurdwara, was arrested by the Buena Park police.
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Durazo confessed to the vandalism at the parking lot and on the truck . He was arrested on suspicion of vandalism at a place of worship, according to a statement by the Buena Park Police Department (BPPD). Sikh-Americans had voiced concerns that the incident might have been part of anti-Muslim retaliation after the San Bernardino shootings of Dec 2 based on the fact that the graffiti at the gurdwara read “F…. ISIS.” The Sikh Coalition in a statement said Sikh-Americans are often targeted for violence because of their turbans and beards. Durazo went to the gurdwara on Dec 13 to make a public apology for his vicious acts. Gurdwara President Inderjot Singh, speaking with India Journal said they welcomed him and granted him permission to speak to the sangat ( congregation). Durazo offering his sincere apology said he wanted to live in peace and it was never his intention for the gurdwara to feel targeted. He said he had lived alongside the gurdwara for many years and had never seen the Sikhs as being anything but peaceful. The sangat took upon themselves the task of teaching Durazo what Sikhism was all about and invited him to share langar with them. Indejrot Singh said “we have forgiven him, but the law has to take its course.” The gurdwara has not had any earlier acts of vandalism or threats, he said and was all praise for the BPPD and the speed with which they had cracked the case and made the arrest. Police patrolling around the gurdwara has also increased, which has given devotees a sense of security.
Buena Park police Cpl. Bret Carter said the Police officers first encountered Durazo while responding to a vandalism call early Dec 6 at the Manor trailer park. Durazo admitted to spraying gang graffiti on a wall, which sits next to the gurdwara, police said. He agreed to clean the wall in exchange for park representatives not pressing charges and was not arrested. The same evening gurdwara officials reported graffiti on their parking lot walls and on the truck. Upon review of the markings, investigators realized it looked identical to the writing found earlier at the trailer park. “It was the same exact thing and the same exact colors,” Carter said.
Durazo was arrested on Dec 9 after confessing to the vandalism. The case was handed over to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
INLAND SIKHS STAND WITH MUSLIMS:
Members of the Sikh community in Riverside and across the nation say it’s their duty to stand with the Islamic community in the wake of the San Bernardino mass shooting.
“It hurts to see that the community that we moved into says we need to move back to our own country,” said Simran Singh of Riverside outside Riverside Gurdwara. “This is our country. We stand for peace.”
His father, Parmjit Singh of Riverside, said the gurdwara prayed for the shooting victims.
“It doesn’t matter the religion,” Parmjit Singh said. “There should not be innocent people killed from anywhere.”
Nationwide, Sikhs and Muslims are banding together to defend their respective religions.
“We are in this fight together,” said Gurjot Kaur, a senior staff attorney at The Sikh Coalition, founded the night of Sept. 11.
The turban represents the Sikh commitment to equality and defending the defenseless, said Simran Singh, a UCLA student. Since 1989, the Riverside Gurdwara has given food to the needy every day, he added.
Reports of bullying, harassment and vandalism against Sikhs have risen in recent weeks. Simran Singh said local Sikhs have been called “bin Laden,” “Taliban” and “ISIS” since the Dec. 2 shooting.
TWO SOCAL MOSQUES VANDALIZED:
Two mosques were attacked by vandals in in the city of Hawthorne .Authorities are investigating these incidents as possible hate crimes, police said.
Police in Hawthorne responded on Dec 13 morning to a report of vandalism and a possible explosive device in front of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Baitus-Salaam Mosque, said the Hawthorne Police Department, whose detectives are leading the investigation. Officers found graffiti on a fence saying “Jesus,” as well as what “appeared to be a hand-grenade type of device in the driveway,” said police. The area was evacuated and the LA County Sheriff’s Bomb Squad responded.
It was later determined that the device “was a plastic replica of a hand-grenade,” police said. Separately, the police department was called about vandalism at the Islamic Center of Hawthorne, where the front of the building was spray-painted with the phrase, “Jesus is the way,” Hawthorne police said. Both incidents appear to have occurred overnight, police said. The FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office is also investigating. Just days before these mosque attacks in Hawthorne, a fire was reported at the Islamic Society of Palm Springs in Coachella. Carl James Dial, 23, was arrested in connection with the fire. Dial faces five felony charges including arson, commission of a hate crime and second-degree burglary, according to arrest records.
SIKH BRONCOS FANS HARASSED:
Three Sikh Americans were harassed by security staff and initially denied entry to watch an NFL game in San Diego last week because they were wearing turbans. Even though Verinder Malhi explained to a guard that his religion prohibited him and his friends from removing their headgear, the men were told the only way they were going to see the Broncos-Chargers game was to do as they were told. Though the men who drove seven hours from Fresno to San Diego, were let inside the stadium, the security guard told them they could not wear their turbans if they ever returned. Keeping calm, the four friends were eventually allowed inside Qualcomm Stadium still wearing their turbans, but their humiliation was not-yet complete. As they were leaving, their car was subjected to a search by a bomb-sniffing dog after a member of the public phoned police because they saw the men ‘suspiciously’ putting a bag inside the trunk.
Buena Park police Cpl. Bret Carter said the Police officers first encountered Durazo while responding to a vandalism call early Dec 6 at the Manor trailer park. Durazo admitted to spraying gang graffiti on a wall, which sits next to the gurdwara, police said. He agreed to clean the wall in exchange for park representatives not pressing charges and was not arrested. The same evening gurdwara officials reported graffiti on their parking lot walls and on the truck. Upon review of the markings, investigators realized it looked identical to the writing found earlier at the trailer park. “It was the same exact thing and the same exact colors,” Carter said.
Durazo was arrested on Dec 9 after confessing to the vandalism. The case was handed over to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
INLAND SIKHS STAND WITH MUSLIMS:
Members of the Sikh community in Riverside and across the nation say it’s their duty to stand with the Islamic community in the wake of the San Bernardino mass shooting.
“It hurts to see that the community that we moved into says we need to move back to our own country,” said Simran Singh of Riverside outside Riverside Gurdwara. “This is our country. We stand for peace.”
His father, Parmjit Singh of Riverside, said the gurdwara prayed for the shooting victims.
“It doesn’t matter the religion,” Parmjit Singh said. “There should not be innocent people killed from anywhere.”
Nationwide, Sikhs and Muslims are banding together to defend their respective religions.
“We are in this fight together,” said Gurjot Kaur, a senior staff attorney at The Sikh Coalition, founded the night of Sept. 11.
The turban represents the Sikh commitment to equality and defending the defenseless, said Simran Singh, a UCLA student. Since 1989, the Riverside Gurdwara has given food to the needy every day, he added.
Reports of bullying, harassment and vandalism against Sikhs have risen in recent weeks. Simran Singh said local Sikhs have been called “bin Laden,” “Taliban” and “ISIS” since the Dec. 2 shooting.
TWO SOCAL MOSQUES VANDALIZED:
Two mosques were attacked by vandals in in the city of Hawthorne .Authorities are investigating these incidents as possible hate crimes, police said.
Police in Hawthorne responded on Dec 13 morning to a report of vandalism and a possible explosive device in front of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Baitus-Salaam Mosque, said the Hawthorne Police Department, whose detectives are leading the investigation. Officers found graffiti on a fence saying “Jesus,” as well as what “appeared to be a hand-grenade type of device in the driveway,” said police. The area was evacuated and the LA County Sheriff’s Bomb Squad responded.
It was later determined that the device “was a plastic replica of a hand-grenade,” police said. Separately, the police department was called about vandalism at the Islamic Center of Hawthorne, where the front of the building was spray-painted with the phrase, “Jesus is the way,” Hawthorne police said. Both incidents appear to have occurred overnight, police said. The FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office is also investigating. Just days before these mosque attacks in Hawthorne, a fire was reported at the Islamic Society of Palm Springs in Coachella. Carl James Dial, 23, was arrested in connection with the fire. Dial faces five felony charges including arson, commission of a hate crime and second-degree burglary, according to arrest records.
SIKH BRONCOS FANS HARASSED:
Three Sikh Americans were harassed by security staff and initially denied entry to watch an NFL game in San Diego last week because they were wearing turbans. Even though Verinder Malhi explained to a guard that his religion prohibited him and his friends from removing their headgear, the men were told the only way they were going to see the Broncos-Chargers game was to do as they were told. Though the men who drove seven hours from Fresno to San Diego, were let inside the stadium, the security guard told them they could not wear their turbans if they ever returned. Keeping calm, the four friends were eventually allowed inside Qualcomm Stadium still wearing their turbans, but their humiliation was not-yet complete. As they were leaving, their car was subjected to a search by a bomb-sniffing dog after a member of the public phoned police because they saw the men ‘suspiciously’ putting a bag inside the trunk.
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