US Hate Crime Photo Credit: Twitter John Crain attacked a Sikh store clerk in Marysville, US

New York: A man in the United States is facing hate crime charges after he physically assaulted a Sikh clerk by throwing hot coffee at him and punching him. The incident happened on 13 February in Marysville, Washington, said the news agency PTI citing a local news newspaper the Sacramento Bee.

John Crain, the attacker, tried to leave without paying for the cup of coffee he purchased from the store. Upon being asked to pay, Crain attacked the clerk. The CCTV footage from the store shows that the clerk confronted Crain at the door when he attacked him with hot coffee. The Sikh clerk of the store suffered injuries on his face due to hot coffee and was also punched by the assaulter.

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Crain was caught when police officers who were in the area for a case of another assault, spotted him in the afternoon of this attack. The attacker on being questioned confessed to his crimes saying that he attacked the Sikh man because he believed him to be a Muslim. Crain was booked by the police into Yuba County Jail for three charges namely hate crime, theft and assault.

Several allies of the Sikh community also condemned this act of hate on Friday. One of the organisations which condemned this hate crime was a Muslim civil rights group, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). In a strongly worded statement, Saad Sweilem, civil rights attorney of CAIR blamed the administration saying 'the attackers are emboldened by the xenophobic policies and sentiments of the administration. The attorney also urged law enforcement to take hate crimes seriously.