Sacramentans mourn Sikh victims of Indianapolis shooting, condemn Asian hate in vigil
Dozens of Sacramentans, including some city officials, gathered outside the west side of Capitol Mall on Sunday evening to hold a vigil in memory of the Sikh victims in last week’s Indianapolis shooting and condemn ongoing gun violence and anti-Asian hate.
The shooting Thursday at a FedEx facility left eight people dead, four of whom were of Sikh descent. It was yet another mass shooting tragedy for the country, as well as the second-deadliest act of mass violence in the Sikh community since 2012, when a white supremacist burst into a Sikh gurdwara in Wisconsin, wounding 10 and killing six.
A motive has yet to be established by authorities, but Indianapolis police have said the gunman was a former employee of FedEx who worked at the Indianapolis facility in 2020.
But the attack is being seen as another blow to members of the Sikh community, who were increasingly targeted by hate crimes after 9/11. The shooting also comes amid a rise in attacks against Asian Americans, coming just over a month after six people of Asian descent were killed in Atlanta.
On Sunday evening, the Sikh American organization Jakara Movement hosted a series of candlelight vigils across California, including in Fresno, Bakersfield and Modesto, to give speeches and honor the victims’ memories. In Sacramento, City Council members Mai Vang and Katie Valenzuela were among the crowd of approximately 60.
“Today we stand united in grief,” said Jakara Movement organizer Mandeep Singh, reading a statement during the vigil from another community member. “This was intentional and targeted. This was a hate crime.”
Sacramento’s tight-knit Sikh community felt the ripples of the Indianapolis killings from across the country. Amarjeet Kaur, one of the victims, was the grandmother of Tanveer Singh, a Sacramento student member of the Jakara Movement.
During the vigil, Kaur’s relatives remembered her as incredibly hardworking and someone who expressed her love through her cooking. Jasmeen Kaur, a cousin of one of Amarjeet Kaur’s grandchildren, said Amarjeet helped her practice her Punjabi and showed her what being a strong Punjabi woman meant.
“She was an angel amongst us all with her time on earth, and will continue to be so,” Jasmeen Kaur said. “When is it enough? How many children will be separated from their grandparents before something changes?”
Singh said his grandmother lived with his family in Sacramento for at least three years and remembered her warm heart and witty jokes. His mother was also in attendance, but was too devastated to speak, he said.
“It means a lot to us that so many people came,” Singh said to the crowd, emotion cracking his voice.
Approximately 250,000 Sikh Americans are living in California, accounting for about half of the entire country’s Sikh American population, according to the Gurdwara Sahib of West Sacramento. About 40,000 live in the Sacramento Valley.
“I don’t find it surprising that these things are happening ... but they continue to shock us. And I think that shock comes from a belief in our communities,” said Karam Singh, an organizer with California Sikh Youth Alliance. “We want to live in a society ... where our children can really cherish the American Dream.”
Vang and Valenzuela referenced that idealized world with speeches reaffirming their solidarity with Sacramento’s Sikh community and condemning ongoing anti-Asian hate.
“I know all of it can seem really unbearable,” Vang said. “I know that we have a lot of work ahead of us ... but I want you to know that another world is possible. We will grieve today ... but tomorrow, we will keep on fighting.”
“How many lives will it take before our government takes care of people?” Valenzuela said. “This (vigil) is what resistance looks like.”
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