Police are trying to identify this man who attacked a Sikh with a hammer; credit: Crime Stoppers
A black male violently attacked a Sikh man with a hammer at a Brooklyn hotel on Monday.
The attack happened Monday morning at the Quality Inn on Osborn Street, where the victim works as the operations manager.
Sumit Ahluwalia, the turban-clad Sikh father of two said the black man who attacked him spit in his face and made remarks about his race
“He pulled out the hammer from his bucket and bang on my head with such intensity,” 32-year-old Sumit Ahulawalia told CBS2’s Kiran Dhillon.
“I came moving back and said, ‘Hey brother, what happened?’ [He said,] ‘You’re not my brother. You’re not the same skin. I don’t like you,’” Ahulawalia said.
CBSN New York reported:
New York City’s Indian community is rallying after surveillance video shows an Indian man being attacked with a hammer in Brooklyn.
The community believes the attack was motivated by hate, saying the victim was targeted because of his religious attire, specifically his turban.
The suspect then appears to hit Ahluwalia in the head with a hammer before running off.
He says the man had entered the lobby and began yelling at him and the front desk staff before spitting in his face three times.
“Do you think you were targeted?” Dhillon asked.
“I think so because I was the only turban guy who was there,” Ahulawalia said.
The attack has left the Sikh father of two who immigrated from India three years ago completely shaken.
“Now I’m feeling scared somehow … Now when I’m going to work, when I’m walking, I have some fear, like maybe someone is coming,” he said. “Everyone comes to this country with new hope, but now there’s something, other feeling in the mind, like why, I didn’t say anything, why did this happen to me?”
Ahluwalia suffered minor injuries and believes his turban prevented a more serious injury.
Police are asking the public to help identify Ahluwalia’s attacker.
Anyone with information regarding this hate crime is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-8477 or for Spanish, 1-888-577-4782.