A 19-year-old was charged with hate crimes Thursday in connection to two separate attacks on three Sikh men this month, the New York City Police Department said.
Vernon Douglas was arrested in connection with an April 3 attack on a 70-year-old Nirmal Singh, who was visiting from India, as well as an April 12 assault and robbery on two other Sikh men, 76, and 64, according to police. Both attacks were reported in the Richmond Hill area of Queens.
Singh was dressed in traditional Sikh clothing and going for a walk just before 7 a.m. on April 3 near 95th Avenue and Lefferts Boulevard in Richmond Hill when he was punched in the face unprovoked, police said. The attack left him with a broken nose and severe bruising.
The suspect didn't say any words to Singh, police said at the time.
In that case, Douglas was charged with hate crime assault, assault, and aggravated harassment, police said.
Singh returned to India after the attack to be with his family but the investigation continued in his absence.
“My father is very grateful that his attacker has been identified and arrested so that he cannot harm others,” Manjit Singh, Singh’s son who lives in Canada, said in a statement.
“Our family sees this sad incident as an assault not just on him, but on all who wear turbans and other articles of faith," he added. "Successfully investigating and prosecuting this as a hate crime should send a clear message: All of our elders — regardless of religion, race, or any other characteristic — deserve to be able to walk the streets without fear.”
The two other Sikh men were also assaulted at the same intersection on Tuesday. Two men hit them with fists and a stick, robbed them and ripped off their turbans, according to police.
Hezekiah Coleman, 20, was charged with robbery, assault as a hate crime, aggravated harassment and two counts of robbery as a hate crime in connection with the incident, authorities said.
Douglas has been charged in the case with two counts each of robbery as a hate crime, robbery, hate crime and aggravated harassment, police said.
Lawyer information for Douglas was not immediately available.
There is a significant Sikh population in Richmond Hill and a gurdwara, a Sikh house of worship, near the intersection where the assaults happened, Graham West, communications director for the Sikh Coalition, told NBC News.
Sikh Americans say they have faced “invisible” racism for years. According to FBI data, there was a 68 percent increase in anti-Sikh hate crimes from 2019 to 2020, most of them committed by white people.
Activists applauded the arrests and hate crime charges.
Nikki Singh, the Sikh Coalition's senior manager of policy and advocacy, said the NYPD will record the three cases as anti-Sikh incidents.
“Swift action in cases like these — action that stems directly from the lived experiences of the community most affected — sends a clear message that no one should be targeted by hate violence,” she said.