In the state of California, a man was arrested on charges of hate crime after he punched a Sikh clerk and threw hot coffee on him. According to media reports the man had done so as he believed the victim was a Muslim.
On Wednesday, the man identified as John Crain, threw hot coffee at the clerk then punched him in the face before fleeing just before 2 am in Marysville. The Sikh clerk told officers that John Crain had prepared himself a cup of coffee and had attempted to leave without paying. He can be seen confronting John Crain at the front door before being attacked, in the CCTV footage. The victim suffered injuries from the hot coffee, as well as a bruise on his face from punching, said the police said.
John Crain had admitted to the officers that he had assaulted the clerk. He told police he "hated Muslims" and attacked the Sikh clerk because he believed him to be Muslim.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations and its allies from the Sikh community had strongly condemned the attack.