Sikh 7-Eleven Clerk Punched By Man Who "Hates Muslims"

The person in question can allegedly be seen on surveillance footage punching the employee before throwing coffee on him after he attempted to leave without paying for his drink. The man–identified by police as John Crain–was later arrested by the Marysville Police Department.

Mr Crain wasn’t denying anything about the encounter and actually admitted to the attack, reportedly telling the police that he did it because he hates Muslim, according to the Sacramento Bee.

A local news station in Sacramento has confirmed that the clerk was in fact Sikh, not Muslim. The employee reportedly survived the incident with a burn on his face, and sustaining other injuries from the hot coffee that was poured on him.

This attack was met with condemnation from local Sikh and Muslim organizations, including the Sacramento Valley office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “We condemn this attack on an individual because of his faith,” Saad Sweilem, civil rights attorney for group, said in a statement.

Mr Sweilem continued, saying, “This hate crime represents yet another attack on our Sikh brothers and sisters fueled by Islamophobia and those emboldened by this administration’s xenophobic policies and sentiments. We welcome the hate crime charges and encourage law enforcement to continue to take these clear incidents of bias seriously.”