Sikh truck driver stabbed 17 times in US days after DHS writes ‘Mr Singh’ | Today’s news
A Sikh truck driver in Wyoming was stabbed 17 times at a rest stop in the United States, NPR reported Thursday.
The incident comes just days after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a controversial AI-generated graphic targeting a Sikh man identified as “Mr. Singh” as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.
The 28-year-old truck driver, a resident of Sacramento, was hospitalized with neck, chest, arm and rib injuries after the attack, NPR reports.
A Punjabi Sikh driver told NPR he was attacked after a man followed him into a bathroom at the Bitter Creek rest area along Interstate 80 early Sunday morning.
In an interview with NPR, Singh said that after he walked into the bathroom, the man began beating him before pulling out a knife and stabbing him multiple times.
The attacker then fled the scene while Singh managed to get out before collapsing on the pavement.
The report said a Hispanic family at the rest stop heard Singh calling for help and rushed to his aid, trying to treat his injuries and get medical help.
Read also | Indian truck driver detained by ICE nearly a year after causing fatal crash
What was the controversial DHS ‘Mr Singh’ post?
The stabbing comes days after the US Department of Homeland Security released an AI-generated Transformer-style graphic of a Sikh man identified as “Mr Singh”.
Titled “Transformers: Age of Deportations”, the movie-style poster showed a large Transformer wearing a DHS badge and facing a Sikh man wearing a headdress.
The graphic also included the message: “America for Americans. Get off our roads, you can’t drive Mr. Singh.”
The DHS post is drawing backlash
DHS removed the controversial graphic after opposition from Indian-American groups and Democratic leaders.
The department also reiterated its message calling for “Mr. Singh” to self-deport.
However, the use of a Sikh character named “Mr Singh” in the campaign sparked a backlash, with people accusing the ministry of racial and religious profiling.
The post was part of the Trump administration’s stepped-up immigration enforcement campaign, which has encouraged undocumented immigrants to leave the United States.
The Hindu American Foundation also criticized the DHS campaign. “The Singhs are Hindu, they are Sikh, they are American and they drive,” the organization said in a post on X.
The Sikh Coalition also expressed concern, saying, “Twenty-five years after 9/11, Sikhs are still being targeted and profiled based on what we look like.”
Indian-origin Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi responded to the attack. “I am appalled by the brutal attack on a Sikh truck driver who was stabbed 17 times at a rest stop in Wyoming,” he wrote on X.
