Reward Money Offered for the Information on Sikh Shooting

In order to help authorities catch the shooters of Avtar Singh Cheira, a bearded and turbaned Sikh man who was shot in Phoenix, AZ on May 19th, the American Anti-Defamation League and the FBI have both pledged a reward of $5000 each for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the shooters. The crime is being investigated by both local and federal authorities as a hate crime. To date, no suspects have been arrested.

This week, the Governor of Arizona, Janet Napolitano convened a meeting with the Attorney General’s Office, the US Attorney, the FBI, the family of Avtar Singh and key leaders from the Sikh community. During the meeting, the Phoenix Sikh Community issued a statement that called for proactive measures to be taken to help prevent further hate crimes. The Sikh community made numersou requests, including that there be incentives for all law enforcement agencies to comply with the Hate Crimes Statistics Act of 1990 and collect accurate and fully detailed data on hate violence; that law enforcement officials record information regarding the ethnic background of all victims and track incidents motivated by immigrant status and to report this information and that public officials, and community and religious leaders, continue to speak out and condemn any and all bias-motivated incidents

It was determined at that meeting that the most strategic action would be for all of the entities involved to pledge funds towards the reward giving the message that Hate crimes will not be tolerated and that the government and policing agencies stand in full force with the Sikh community bringing the shooters and any perpetrators to justice.

In addition, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard condemned the shooting of Avtar Singh Cheira as a racist attack. Goddard pledged to use the force of his office to encourage anyone with information to come forward and contact Rick Romley at the Maricopa County Attorney's Office or the Civil Rights Division of the Arizona Attorney General's Office.

"Hatred and firearms are a lethal combination," said Goddard. "Arizona needs to send a clear message that shameful acts of cowardice and racism will not be tolerated in our state. People should never fear for their safety because of their faith, color, nationality…or because of what they're wearing. It's unlawful, immoral and un-American."

Persons with information or those who believe they have been a victim of a hate crime can call the Maricopa County Attorney's Hate Crimes hotline at (602) 506-5000 or the Attorney General's Civil Rights Division Hate Crime Hotline at 602-542-5263 in the Phoenix metro area or 1-877-491-5742 statewide.

The government agencies are requesting that the Sikh community and the general public support the search and capture of the shooters by contributing to the reward fund. This fund will be used as reward money, along with the funds already pledged by the FBI and ADL, for anyone who has information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the shooters.

Tax-deductible contributions can be made to:

SIKH COMMUNITY AID FUND
Memo: Avtar Singh Reward Program
2313 N. Richland Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85006

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