An Indian-origin Sikh-owned restaurant in the US city of Santa Fe in New Mexico has been vandalised, looted, and spray-painted with racial slurs on the walls.
The owner of the Indian Palace restaurant, Baljit Singh, reportedly suffered a loss worth $100,000.
“White power”, “Trump 2020”, “go home”, and other derogatory slurs were painted across the walls by the miscreants, while computers and cash were also stolen as everything else was vandalised.
White supremacists vandalize the Sikh owned India Palace restaurant in Santa Fe NM, causing over $100k in damages and leaving behind “White Power” and “Trump 2020” graffiti. Some of the items destroyed were used by the restaurant owners to make care packages for the homeless. pic.twitter.com/PAfeKHsPBK
— Decoherence (@DecoherenceWave) June 24, 2020
HATE CRIME - an inside look at the India Palace restaurant in Santa Fe. Messages like “Trump 2020” and racial slurs cover the inside. Owners estimate $100K in damages @KOB4 pic.twitter.com/7Fy29HVLnF
— Nathan O'Neal (@nateoneal) June 23, 2020
The Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Fund (SALDEF), a non-profit civil rights organisation, has condemned the incident, saying that hate and violence are unacceptable.
At least five separate crowdfunding campaigns have been launched by the residents of Santa Fe to recover the damages for Singh.
Singh told local media that he purchased the restaurant in 2013 with his father and was using it to prepare food and care packages for local homeless people during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Monday incident is being investigated by police.
