PRESS STATEMENT | SIKH COALITION | US |
October 27, 2018 – (Pittsburgh, PA) – This morning, a shooter walked into the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Congregation, a Jewish synagogue, and reportedly yelled “all Jews must die” before killing at least four and injuring several more.
The shooting suspect has been arrested. While the facts remain fluid and the motivation behind the shooting remains unclear, this act of savage violence becomes the third deadly shooting in an American house of worship in the last six years.
Pardeep Kaleka, who lost his father Satwant Singh Kaleka in the Oak Creek massacre, has dedicated the last six years to befriending and working with reformed skinhead, Arno Michaelis, to build bridges and combat hate in communities across the United States. In response to the Charleston shooting in 2015, Pardeep drove from Wisconsin to South Carolina to support and defiantly stand in solidarity in response.
“These moments of unbearable anguish and trauma are intended to divide us even further, but these violent acts that target minority faiths and communities only strengthen our resolve to unite in our efforts to combat intolerance and bigotry in America,” said Kaleka.
For 17 years, the Sikh Coalition – the nation’s largest Sikh civil rights organization – has worked on policy, legal and educational efforts to combat and prevent hate in America. As a part of this never-ending work, the organization launched a gurdwara security initiative in 2016 that was designed to strengthen security measures at Sikh houses of worship across the United States, and works with the Department of Justice and FBI to ensure hate crimes are accurately tracked.
The Sikh Coalition works to combat bias, bigotry and backlash in the courtroom, classroom, community, and halls of Congress. For more information, including interviews with senior leaders at the Sikh Coalition or with Pardeep Kaleka, please contact Mark Reading-Smith.
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