I read this story earlier, but have they arrested the guys who did it? The irony is that they are probably going to be dropping the soap for 20 to life in some roughhouse penitentiary somewhere.

I don't believe they have caught them and I don't think that the community they are suspected to be from will be sympathetic to the victim or law enforcement.

Whether or not he was homosexual shouldn't matter in terms of the law as long as the assailants thought he was, I hope. I think the motivation is all that is needed for this to be tried as a hate-crime. However, the headline labeling him 'gay immigrant' is very poor journalism indeed, if done without any confirmation.

As for the bit about Indians dancing, it really all depends on perspective. Out of personal observation, I can say that some, or many of us desi guys are not as uncomfortable with each other as our western counterparts. For instance, having an arm around a friend's shoulder ... it's all innocent stuff we guys never even used to think much about back in India. It's only after we got here to the US that we are suddenly very cautious about the 'image' we are portraying... and so all these otherwise innocent gestures are abandoned. When it comes to dancing, desi parties always end up with these small 'circular groups' spread across the dance floor. When in such a 'circular' formation, it is not at all uncommon for two guys to step forward into the center of the circle and start dancing facing each other ... or even two girls for that matter.

This is all in good fun, but only us desis can understand that. To a bystander like these Russians haters, that would be enough to evoke all the homophobic rage inside of them. Good luck in prison, y'all.

I agree with Randomizer, the emphasis needs to be put on the fact that it was a hate crime and not the debate over what his sexual orientation was.

First Matthew Shepherd. Now Satendar Singh???

wasn't the controversy regarding shepherd that it was a drug crime, and his assailants claimed they killed him b/c he was gay and hitting on them b/c they thought it would give them sympathy with the jurors?

@Leeda: I do believe it is important that journalists confirm the facts before labeling him a gay immigrant merely because the attackers thought he was so. However, I am pretty sure it does not matter in the eyes of the law, and that is reassuring.

What I find really peculiar about this story is that there doesn’t seem to be any effort to verify if he was really gay, or simply stereotyped as gay because he was “dancing to Indian music.”

Whether he was gay or not, shouldn't matter. It's the intent of his murderers that dictates the type of crime. Those Russians attacked him for being 'different' whatever that may be and there should be an effort to verify. Plus, media should hold off before they declare the victim gay or not. Not because it's insulting, but it's pretty insensitive to his family especially if he weren't gay, or if he were and still closeted pretty shocking if they never knew.

There is an interest with the politics currently for many to turn this into a gay bashing incident and rally to it. Now, if facts back it up, it should be portrayed as such, but it seems politicians are already using it for their purposes and agenda. How about ensuring by pulling every string that the federal help asked for gets there. I hope that happens.

This particular subsection of Russians is thought to be part of a fundamentalist (i.e. not Russian Orthodox) community....so pick the ways in which they would have found Satender Singh abhorrent.

i recall reading in a news article that satender had come out to his friends and family in the states? the source escapes me at the moment, but the quote i recall from his uncle and aunt, with whom he was living in cali, stated they were aware of his homosexuality, "but loved him nonetheless".

regardless, his death makes my blood boil.

Interesting article from last year on the active homophobia of suspected community:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-russgay13oct13,0,3509076.story?coll=la-home-headlines

"Those Russians attacked him for being 'different' whatever that may be"

agreed, No one deserves to die for being different, whether being gay, Indian, or the way they dance. It’s an attack on freedom. The man died for being different, sickening.

It's actually strange for me to see this framed as an LGBT issue, not because it can't be, but because it was framed so heavily as a race/ethnicity issue in the initial press releases and coverage. I wonder why there was a switch? The original articles mentioned homophobic slurs, but they emphasized racial slurs instead.

At any rate, it doesn't really matter what his identity was. Isn't that part of the underlying thought behind hate crime legislation? It is operable for "real or perceived" identity. The whole incident is sickening and tragic.

Quickly, three (or more) connected thoughts:

1. I lived in Russia for 1 year and Ukraine for 5 years. Generally speaking, Indian film music is loved in the former Soviet U., perhaps more among the slightly older generation, but quite definitely so in the Asian republics like Uzbekistan. My point is the music, and its functions or any related parodies, are not unfamiliar to them

2. But generally speaking, being gay is extremely dangerous there. The worst form of insult/cuss word you can throw at somebody is the Russian word for homosexual. Despite it being overused everyday, especially among the young. Violent hatred for gays wins hands down over love/tolerance for Indian film music, generally speaking.

3. And generally speaking, there is a very high degree of violent racism among a relatively smaller proportion of the population. The one and only DIRECT, to-the-face, from-2-ft-away, purely malignant racial incident I experienced in my life was in a bus in the former USSR.

4. Have there been any 'gang-initiation' connotations at all in the newsreports? As Russian youth gangs and Russian "mafia" is a big prroblem (former, as far as I know, limited to Russia, latter in the US; but I am sure one influences the other)

@Camille #12 : "I wonder why there was a switch?"

I think a gay-hate incident would be more attention grabbing than an immigrant-hate incident... and would probably get more publicity as well as sympathy from the public. Also, isn't the LGBT lobby much stronger than the immigrant lobby? Immigrants generally don't have voting power, so politicians don't really care.

Russian youth gangs and Russian "mafia" is a big prroblem (former, as far as I know, limited to Russia, latter in the US; but I am sure one influences the other)

I need to correct myself. 'Russian mafia' is a problem inside and outside of Russia/former republics.

,” one of Singh’s friends who witnessed the incident and who preferred to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, told India-West.

I wonder if the coward deserves to be called a friend.

I find it puzzling that a bunch of Russian guys cannot be identified and arrested yet. From the description, these guys are obviously not some Russian computer programmers. They probably had an accent judging by the description of them as Russians and not some random white guy. These friends could not even spot a vehicle these Russians fled in?

The initial three or four stories I read about this incident said that the attackers were yelling both racist and homophobic slurs at the group and at Singh. They also mentioned that Singh was targeted not only because he was dancing to Indian music with other members of the group (including men), but because he was the only one without a female date. The Sacremento Bee story from last week is here: http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/270787.html. (Sorry, having hyperlink issues today.)

All the initial stories I saw said that Singh was not gay but was perceived to be by the attackers; however, I did see one later story that said he was, but was not completely out. (Unfortunately, it's on my work computer, and I can't pull it up here.) But whether he was or not, that he was perceived to be is what's important. That's why they LGBT community in Sacramento is taking an interest in the case - and the above article lays out some of the tension that's been building between the anti-gay religious Slavic community and the queer community in the city.

That's why the hate crimes bill before the Senate now is so so important. Again, sorry about the non-hyperlink, but here's the info:
http://www.hrc.org/Content/NavigationMenu/HRC/Get_Informed/Federal_Legislation/Hate_Crimes_110th_Factsheet/The_Local_Law_Enforcement_Hate_Crimes_Prevention_Act_Matthew_Shepard_Act.htm

The religious right is trying to paint this bill as anti-free speech, but that's just a lie. Your speech is only taken into account if you're yelling something while committing a violent crime against another person. Bush, of course, has said that he will veto it if it passes, but the Senate could vote on it as soon as this week. Please, please, contact your Senators and tell them to support this bill. One of the things it will do is allow the FBI to both support local law enforcement in cases like this and step in if they think the local police aren't doing as much as they should. I mean, how is it that Singh's attackers haven't been arrested or even identified yet?

Okay, so that second link fucked up. I'll try again.

Go here:
http://www.hrc.org/Content/NavigationMenu/HRC/Get_Informed/Federal_Legislation/Index.htm

And then click on the "The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act/Matthew Shepard Act" (third link down). That's the page I was trying to post.

Re: Randomizer
I think a gay-hate incident would be more attention grabbing than an immigrant-hate incident... and would probably get more publicity as well as sympathy from the public. Also, isn't the LGBT lobby much stronger than the immigrant lobby? Immigrants generally don't have voting power, so politicians don't really care.
-----
The LGBT 'angle' is so sensational because it’s new. How many visibly gay South Asians are out there? Also, Elizabeth Edwards picked it up because she was speaking at an HRC dinner.

Whether Mr. Singh was gay (and he's probably the only one to know the real answer) or who he was out to, what matters is that the attack was motivated by homophobia.

It's interesting that our discussion is around media outlets that played up the homophobia (can you really ‘play up’ homophobia or racism?); if anything, I’d say India-West downplayed it.

I don't know whether this should be considered as violence against gays or indians (sadly anti gay epithets have became a pretty common general insult for anything that doesn't conform to machoism so I don't know that its definitely a homophobic attack), but either way its callous to be making political points on it.

What angers me more is that they haven't found the guys yet. I mean there are reportedly at least 4 or 5 witnesses right who had seen the guys for a number of hours on the day. The guy who walked over with the brass knuckles should also be pretty easy to identify considering they can already narrow him down by ethnicity and physical factors. How bout getting justice for an individual who didn't deserve to die at the hands of a bunch of animals?

Then again, I'm sure the police are just keeping quiet for an investigation--but it would be comforting for a number of different communities to at least hear about some progress.

In Sacramento . In California. In the year 2007. Two thousand and seven.

Why??

Randomizer, I'm sure (unfortunately) that you're right. :(

I just read the sacramento bee article linked to by Lizzie. Here is something that made my blood boil

He characterized the case as high priority, and said detectives still want to speak with those involved and find the person responsible. As of Thursday, no arrests had been made.

Singh was picnicking near Lake Natoma with a small group of Fijian and Indian friends when the attack occurred, according to two people with him that day. The Bee is not identifying the friends because they fear retribution.

High priority and they still have not spoken to the people involved???????? I did not realize crime was such a huge problem in Sacramento that such a heinous blatant IN YOUR FACE incident can be subject to this kind of delay.

And considering there were warning signs that they might be trouble, why didnt a single Indian friend try to call 911 as this was going on if they did not have the ability or courage to fight these guys? It doesnt seem like it was a sudden sneak attack. That someone could do this and disappear without anyone identifying them is amazing in this day and age. Shame on the Slavic community for hiding this fucker. And shame on the local Indian community for not doing enough to rally around him.

Why isn't support more forthcoming from the South Asian community? Let's face it. Mr. Singh has the misfortune of being of Fijian extraction AND being surrounded by the 'taint' of homosexuality.

I think if he had been say... mentally-ill AND a leper, our community would at least hold some meetings about rallying around him.

Details about this incident remain unclear. Such as, why did his friends let him face his fate alone?

And just so I understand this (and don't inadvertantly get my skulled crushed). An Indian guy hanging out with mixed company is a homosexual. And, a group of guys participating in a Russian sausage-fest piss-up are... heterosexuals?

This story has so broken my heart. Mostly because of the lack of noise from the Russian community for not identifying these bastards, for the lack of involvement from the so called friends who were witnesses and from the lack of support and push from the South Asian community. I emailed everyone I know. Please email everyone you know to spread the word about this. I can't believe a man is dead, killed in broad daylight by a bunch of fucking animals with witneness to boot and no one has been arrested yet!!

Shame on the Slavic community for hiding this fucker.

High priority and they still have not spoken to the people involved????????

Mostly because of the lack of noise from the Russian community for not identifying these bastards

For all this, the article that lc includes in his comment #10 says that the sheriff's deputy in the Sacramento community is a Russian-Ukranian who has strong ties to the community and is often consulted on various aspects. Surely, that should have actually meant a much better chance of identifying the culprits? Or maybe that's one reason why the culprits haven't been identified? Yes, I am speculating.

There is a site put up by family/friends with information on what happened. You also have the opportunity to donate--and I encourage everyone to do so. Please don't think that there will be others who will take this up. This responsibility falls to US to help one of our OWN.

Google Video of Vigil held in Sacramento:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-10598370163019630&pr=goog-sl

website for more information, articles, and donations:
www.satendar.com

From one of the articles on the site:

Florin Ciuriuc, a former executive director of the Slavic Community Center of Sacramento, said he was disturbed but not surprised to hear of the attack at Lake Natoma.

Ciuriuc said he was among those leading anti-gay protests a few years back but that he stopped participating as the movement became more menacing.

"I saw that people were hungry for violence, for blood; different ideas where we have to be aggressive, where we have to scream," he said. "I don't want people from my community killing each other or other people because they are getting aggressive."

Viktor Chernyetsky, administrator of Bethany Slavic Missionary Church, strongly disagreed with Ciuriuc's assessment. Chernyetsky said Slavic leaders teach homosexuality is a sin, but do not support physical violence.

"You can express your view legally. You can go to the Capitol. You can put up signs," Chernyetsky said. "But to resort to physical violence, we are strongly against this."

****Complete BULLSHYT... how do you teach people to hate and then ask them to draw the line short of violence?

More info in today's Sacramento Bee:
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/278352.html

>Also, isn't the LGBT lobby much stronger than the immigrant lobby? Immigrants generally don't have voting power, so politicians don't really care.

Then again, the LGBT community has yet to declare a general strike... the LGBT lobby is much stronger, but the potential grassroots power of immigrants is just massive.

>The religious right is trying to paint this bill as anti-free speech, but that's just a lie. Your speech is only taken into account if you're yelling something while committing a violent crime against another person.

Amen to that. Isn't it amazing how when an incident like this occurs, or when some right-wing talk show host throws racial slurs around, they're all about free speech, but when protesting students or union workers are shut down, arrested and beaten it's suddenly not as important? (Or for that matter when it comes to only a few megacorporations owning the media?)

>"You can express your view legally. You can go to the Capitol. You can put up signs," Chernyetsky said. "But to resort to physical violence, we are strongly against this."

****Complete BULLSHYT... how do you teach people to hate and then ask them to draw the line short of violence?

It seems like there's a direct parallel between this and the way that the American Family Association encouraged its members to protest the Hindu prayer in Congress last week, don't you think?

calm down krish. you can believe something is morally wrong and even horrible and not turn violent. It's why (thank goodness) every anti abortion protestor hasn't started bombing clinics and why every anti war protestor isn't suddenly going to shoot a veteran (like some nutball did on july 4th). You're hate and jump to stereotype is pretty disturbing as it is.

Back to the story though. Apparently the HAF is trying to work on raising awareness this story around and SALDEF and CAIR have also both condemned it so I don't think the indian community is ignoring the story.

Thanks for the article umair. It's shocking that the cops haven't brought in anybody yet apparently and that they're now trying to interview people who were at the area. Apparently there were tons of witnesses. I really hope that comment #10 is wrong because I'm tired of people protecting their own---these guys need to be strung up and thrown out by their own community---nobody should protect murderers.

On July 1, 2007, shortly before 9:00 p.m. California State Park Rangers responded to a call for service at Lake Natoma State Park involving an altercation with injuries.

Why did it take ONE HOUR to respond?

Sheriff’s detectives believe the victim was injured during a physical altercation that resulted from a day-long verbal confrontation between groups of Russians and East Indians. The Russians were seen leaving the area in two vehicles: a dark green four-door sedan (no further description) and a Red Mitsubishi (no further description) with a red DMV number “7” sticker affixed to the rear window.

Sheriff’s detectives are urging anyone involved in, a witnessed to, or with information about, the altercation to please call 874-5115.

Uhh moron police, weren't there enough witnesses on the scene??? How about tracking all REd Mitsubishis registered in the area to Russian sounding names?

And that's the best description of the vehicles the Indian guy's cowardly friends could come up with? A dark green sedan? This was no surprise attack. I sure hope I don't have such friends if I ever get attacked.

Amen to that. Isn't it amazing how when an incident like this occurs, or when some right-wing talk show host throws racial slurs around, they're all about free speech, but when protesting students or union workers are shut down, arrested and beaten it's suddenly not as important? (Or for that matter when it comes to only a few megacorporations owning the media?)

this little piggie built his house out of straw

and yeah. right wing talking heads saying something that 'racially offensive' is so comparable to this incident

Uhh moron police, weren't there enough witnesses on the scene??? How about tracking all REd Mitsubishis registered in the area to Russian sounding names?

And that's the best description of the vehicles the Indian guy's cowardly friends could come up with? A dark green sedan? This was no surprise attack. I sure hope I don't have such friends if I ever get attacked.

i'm kind of surprised that they evidently haven't given better info. however, maybe they were drunk or something--i imagine having what should have been a fun night out on july 4th would involve some booze--there were supposedly a lot of other witnesses though

I am tracking the Satendar Singh story closely for a number of reasons: I live in Sacramento, am gay, despise hate crime and host a modest web site for gay Sacramento.

This is the best lively discussion of the events on the Internet. And there are many discussions on this topic. News sites now allow comments and this story has elicited many. The major news stories for Satendar Singh have been at Sacramento's newspaper www.sacbee.com and the local tv stations news10.net, kcra.com, and cbs13.com

Many have drawn a cause/effect from the local Russian/slavic/Ukraine Fundamental/Evangical/Baptist/Pentacostal churches groups that have been protesting loudly and virulently the last 2 years anything gay in Sacramento: gay pride, day of silence, gay legislation at the capitol (state capitol Sacramento, California). Many are waiting for the second shoe to drop that the murders belong to the churches/were inspired by the churches.

The perpetrators have not been caught yet 17 days later as of this post. This was a hate crime. This group attacked a person because of his sexuality, race, color, religion. Killed him in a public place - a picnic area at a State Park - in broad daylight on a Sunday evening, near a major american metropolitan city. This is my America, my city, my Matthew Shepard. This is wrong. This cannot fade away.

At my web site are the links I collect to document the story. www.outsacramento.com

The local newspaper sacbee.com has coverage (free subscription required)

First story: www.sacbee.com/101/story/256068.html

Dies: www.sacbee.com/101/story/259354.html

911 call: http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/278352.html

Mark

(pardon my spelling & grammar, can't find the check button)

I wouldn't classify this as a hate crime.

The Russian youths didn't know he was he wasn't gay, and I doubt they meant to kill him when they beat him up. It is natural for straight males to dislike anything gay, so in this case the accused beat up a guy who they thought was gay. May be Singh shoud have learned to defend himself, obviously his friends didn't help him.

The Russian youths didn't know he was he wasn't gay, and I doubt they meant to kill him when they beat him up. It is natural for straight males to dislike anything gay, so in this case the accused beat up a guy who they thought was gay. May be Singh shoud have learned to defend himself, obviously his friends didn't help him.

wow.

You doubt they meant to kill him when they beat him up? Why didn't you say so--they shouldn't even press charges. I mean, nobody intends to seriously hurt somebody else when they sucker punch somebody with brass knuckles. It might not be premeditated murder, but you can bet these guys will at least get charged with manslaughter and assault at minimum. Just desserts isn't a meaningless phrase.

I tend to agree its possible that they may have just been insulting him with gay epithets for machoism reasons but that does excuse the fact they killed him.

As for Singh learning to defend himself, man--do you seriously believed he caused his own death because of his inability to defend himself. Its hard to defend yourself from a sucker punch with brass knuckles. Then again, rape victims shouldn't dress so promiscuously right if they haven't taken a self defense class right, because they're basically inviting violation of their bodies?

LK1--are you a moron, or do you just pretend to be one in online forums? You didn't read the articles, 'cause you would know that racial along with homophobic epithets were used.

I've said there are many angles to look at this case. Don't you guys think it's odd that it's Russian immigrants, the bulk of whom arrived after the 90s, who are the perpetrators of this crime? The point that I'm trying to make is... well, as a 1.5er in America, I don't feel I have a 'stake' to pass judgment on anyone here, 'cause I havne't been here long enough. Can these Russian guys can come in and coopt white racism that easily? Did they learn this hatred in their country or did they learn it here?

Of course, we could be reading too much into this... I mean, it doesn't take a ideology of hatred to spark violence... many times, good ol' budweiser can do the trick.

And another thing. So much is made about Muslims in America creating enclaves of hatred. Well, it should be increasingly clear to us that this problem goes far beyond Islam. In America, right now, we are sitting back and watching these pockets of right-wing, ethno-nationalist, and chauvanist movements take root.

I think it's the immigrant experience--leaves people very vulnerable to these black/white ideologies that seem to be the basis for fomenting hatred.

I whole-heartedly join Mark in applauding this forum for having the most productive discussion around.

Mark, I am also tracking this story as a gay, south asian american born and raised in california. Our community cannot afford to let this go.

I work in news and will be pushing for coverage. Please send the story around however you can.

LK1 is one reason why we probably need registration here for users. We can probably reduce hit and run cowardly comments. I am for free speech, however moronic, as long as someone can stand by those comments.

woops. i meant the fact this may have not been a hate crime doesn't excuse the slaughter of Satender.

I really don't see why you're trying to make this a political issue Krish--conflating this attack and isolated ones that span fundamentalist religious groups and/or immigrant communities aren't necessarily comparable to some of the problems in Muslim communities--particularly in England where it seems violence is advocated in at least some mosques. Regardless, it is likely a case of some bad apples in all the previous cases, but the relevance of these groups is trying to break their tendency to not speak out against the violent ones in their communities, something that hopefully will not be an issue in this case.

And good luck to Amita and Mark, it looks like the press will be the only way the public will get more facts and resolution in this case-so hopefully you can serve to calm some of the anger and fear that this tragedy has caused in a number of communities.

Can these Russian guys can come in and coopt white racism that easily? Did they learn this hatred in their country or did they learn it here?

They learned it back home. Forget about Chechens and the conflict associated with them....Russians refer to swarthy Armenians & Georgians as "blacks". And Indian businessmen & students have been killed by Russian crowds in race related attacks. I hear St. Petersburg is particularly bad.

conflating this attack and isolated ones that span fundamentalist religious groups and/or immigrant communities aren't necessarily comparable to some of the problems in Muslim communities

Dude, what are you trying to say? Only Muslims are capable of fundamentalist violence? I'm not sure I understand and I'd like to give you the benefit of the doubt.

There have been some articles coming out after this incident (and several, before) that talked about the VOCAL anti-gay stance of the Russian churches in the Sacramento area.

you're foaming right now krish. calm down.

I'm not saying that only muslims are capable of fundamentalist violence--history, current events and a number of other things contradict that. However, the evolution of fundamentalism within certain religions may be at different points and right now violence encouraged in mosques in UK is a problem. If you've heard of documented widespread violence encouraged in holy places right now in other religions in a particular area then i'm willing to concede that you can equate the two situations. However, at present I don't see that this situation or what you perceive as a right wing ethnocentric religious incitement to violence exists in the same way as exists in say england or pakistan.

There's a difference between a direct exhortation to violence and intolerance.

Sacramento, California, United States of America, July 1, 2007: (As Neale said)

Person killed after "racial and homophobic names" (http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/256068.html)

America:

All men are created equal.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Seperation of church and state.

Why did this murder happen? Ignorance, hate, religion? Maybe they knew each other? Drugs or alcohol?

May be Singh shoud have learned to defend himself, obviously his friends didn't help him.

I hope everyone (ce blast, krish, pravin) is just as enraged when the inevitable brown NRA member pops up and says, "oh, he should have owned a gun--maybe then he could have survived, " or some equivalent nonsense.

i'm thinking of you, Mr. Haricharran.

The Russian youths didn't know he was he wasn't gay, and I doubt they meant to kill him when they beat him up. It is natural for straight males to dislike anything gay, so in this case the accused beat up a guy who they thought was gay. May be Singh shoud have learned to defend himself, obviously his friends didn't help him.

WTF? Even if they "only" meant to beat him up, THAT IS STILL A HATE CRIME.

I really hope you are just trolling.

What a sad story.

I found this line from the latest SALDEF press release to be especially depressing:

"We strongly condemn this act of violence. Such hate has no place in this country [DJDP note: Or any place, for that matter]," said SALDEF Volunteer Attorney Neilinder Singh. "Sadder still, Satendar Singh had lived peacefully in the US since he was 19, only to have his life ended around the Fourth of July, when we celebrate the freedoms and principles of inclusion that this country was founded upon." [link]

More depressing still is the article louiecypher linked to:

In most instances, the Russian-speaking demonstrators far outnumber representatives from all other anti-gay groups combined. Anti-homosexual rallies that a few years ago attracted a few dozen participants now regularly draw hundreds and sometimes thousands, many with a heavy Russian accent.

Even in a state capital where impassioned public demonstrations are a daily event, the Slavic fundamentalists stand out. Elderly women in babushkas stand next to small children carrying signs stating: "Perversion is Never Safe" and "I Am Not Learning About Gay People."

Anyone know if any members from within community the attackers are a part of have made a statement regarding their alleged involvement in this heinous crime? Or are they going to carry on preaching their hate and tacitly encouraging violence against those they deem to be deserving?

LK1 is one reason why we probably need registration here for users. We can probably reduce hit and run cowardly comments. I am for free speech, however moronic, as long as someone can stand by those comments.

Mark and Amita, I'm so glad to hear that you two are doing the work you're doing.

Krish***, I understand where you're coming from (I don't think you're foaming, coincidentally -- krish, or whomever the second commentator was, perhaps you could take the personal attacks down a notch?). I think it would be dangerous to paint an entire community with a broad brush, but it is not ahistoric or inappropriate to identify that within the former USSR there has been a historically grotesque abuse of LGBT individuals (real and perceived). I'm with DJ, I want to know what the Russian community in Sacramento is doing. Was this an isolated incident, or is this a tacitly accepted way to behave?

I don't have time to read all the comments just now, but I've noticed the references to the Russian fundamentalist Christian community in the Sacto area: LA Times (search the archives) did a lengthy article about how large groups of Russian fundamendalists (ironically, to me, mostly emigres) regularly picket the state Capitol in Sacramento against various "liberal" issues including gay rights. It mentioned some tensions, but it looks like the atmosphere there finally resulted in a tragedy. Glad some have pointed out that Singh's actual orientation is irrelevant if the reason he was attacked was based on his perceived orientation by the thugs.

IN REGARDS TO THE GETAWAY VEHICLES:

To my knowledge the vehicles in which the suspects fled were a RED MITSUBISHI and a GREEN SEDAN. That probably doesn't really help the investigation all that much. Though what could potentially help is if the exact make and models of the cars were to be identified.

TO THAT END:

The witnesses might be able to identify the make of the vehicles through online auto shops like www.autotrader.com. They have a massive collection of used vehicles for sale. More importantly these vehicles also have a bunch of pictures attached to them from various angles, and they can be searched by make and color (to figure out the MODEL-e.g. Red Mitsubishi 3000GT or Green Honda Accord). If someone could please forward this info to all parties involved it may help to uncover some pertinent information.

Also the sticker on the rear windshield was a DMV inspection sticker. I don't know what the number 7 signifies, but I'm sure someone at the DMV does.

And finally here is an example of what I was talking about:

IN REGARDS TO THE GETAWAY VEHICLES:

To my knowledge the vehicles in which the suspects fled were a RED MITSUBISHI and a GREEN SEDAN. That probably doesn't really help the investigation all that much. Though what could potentially help is if the exact make and models of the cars were to be identified.

TO THAT END:

The witnesses might be able to identify the make of the vehicles through online auto shops like www.autotrader.com. They have a massive collection of used vehicles for sale. More importantly these vehicles also have a bunch of pictures attached to them from various angles, and they can be searched by make and color (to figure out the MODEL-e.g. Red Mitsubishi LANCER or Green Honda ACCORD). If someone could please forward this info to all parties involved it may help to uncover some pertinent information.

Also the sticker on the rear windshield was a DMV inspection sticker. I don't know what the number 7 signifies, but I'm sure someone at the DMV does.

The LA times article is good background:
"For Gays, a Loud New Foe.
Sacramento's large enclave of immigrant Slavic evangelicals is becoming a force on social issues. Their actions shock many." is available here:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-russgay13oct13,0,3388537,full.story?coll=la-home-headlines

The Sacramento Sheriff's report is available here:
http://www.sacsheriff.com/media/0703_leadrole.cfm

18 days since the murder and no arrests.

What bothers me is that no detailed descriptions of the perpetrators has been made public or police sketches of the faces. There were at least 7 witnesses - the 6 in Mr. Singh's party and the man that phoned 911.

Sacramento is having a "Diversity Summit" to "strengthen our community against hate crimes" Saturday. Here is a link to the flier:
http://www.outsacramento.com/summit7-21-07.JPG

-Mark

This is simply amazing. Not even a character sketch? What the hell is going on? What kind of friends does he have? You know as the media keeps hammering on the same old 4 or 5 cases of missing or dead white women, why can't the local media at least find a good story in this? I find this case outrageous and it's not even just because it involves an Indian guy.

Ya thats another thing that struck me as really odd. With those many witnesses nobody can figure what these guys look like (are for that matter taking down a plate #...which under the circumstances is understandable).

Now I'm not an detective or anything (just a lowly undergrad who's "car crazy"), though if I were, I would have at least identified the car's first. The witnesses obviously have some sort of idea what it looks like if they could identify the make from the symbol alone. From there, I would cross reference DMV files for certain criteria that would fit the suspects:
1) Names - They were likely to be ethnic Russians, and as such would have had Russian sounding names.
2) Prior Incidents - Search for cars that are linked to drivers with a prior history of criminal incidents, especially in areas with a high density of Russians.

At the very least, advise the local beat cops to be on the lookout for a Red Mitsubishi in areas that are densely populated by Russian denizens.

Not a lot to by I know, but from I've read, I don't think they have even the slightest idea where to start

If these idiot friends took the trouble to see that the car is a Red Mistubishi with a sticker on the back, couldnt they describe whether the car was a sedan , coupe, or SUV at least? Whether it was shiny and new or old? What state license plate even if they couldnt see the number? Number of guys who were in the car? Height? Weight?

This is a joke. I am not going to blame the victim. BUt I sure as hell am going to blame these friends for not playing a bigger role in capturing these guys. THey are afraid of retribution? Why? These guys got away scott free. You think they will risk being caught again just because some friend's name was used in the paper?And this is the key thing. They obviously had some tensions all day. So it's not like some gang members showed up in the dark and ran away after a sudden sucker punch.

Tryin' to keep this story from being buried by... eyebrows.

I received this message today from one of the email lists I belong to:

SATENDAR JUSTICE COALITION REPORT OF ACTION:

Representatives from the Satendar Justice Coalition met with Sheriff John McGinness on Tuesday, July 17 regarding the Satendar Singh alleged Hate Crime murder investigation. As a reminder, the Coalition was created in the wake of Satendar’s death, and consists of people representing the LGBT, African American, Muslim, Sikh, Faith leaders, and API leaders, among others. The group walked away from the meeting with renewed confidence that the Sherriff was treating this investigation with the importance that it deserves.

Sheriff McGinness assured the group that his department was aggressively investigating the crime. They are placing a great deal of emphasis, from various resources in the sheriff's department, on the case. We felt that Sheriff McGinness understood the importance of this investigation to the LGBT community. We voiced our concerns and our fears and felt that he was sympathetic to our needs and that he will do all in his power to ensure a positive outcome in this case. In addition, we are encouraged by his understanding and acknowledgement of the escalating volatility of anti-gay protests by members of the Slavic fundamentalist community. Sheriff McGinness expressed his willingness to meet with the Slavic fundamentalist ministers and other leaders from that community to dissuade them from continuing to engage in the kind of rhetoric that incites people to overstep the bounds of civility and decency as they participate in their newly acquired freedom of expression.

It is vital, at this time, that we avoid any action, such as protesting or retaliating against the perceived perpetrators, that could hinder the investigation. Crimes where a Hate Crime statute may be invoked are very fragile and actions from the community at large can prove detrimental. The various LGBT leaders are asking for your patience while the investigation continues. We don't want to threaten the support we are getting from the larger community by acting out of anger. We are working to ensure that justice is served and we are working to ensure that the LGBT community, or any minority community, in Sacramento, will never face this kind of hatred and violence again. Sheriff McGinness has pledged his support in our efforts. The next step is a meeting with District Attorney Jan Scully, on Monday, July 23rd, where we will voice the concerns of our communities at large.

Investigators continue to urge anyone with information about this case to call the Sheriff’s Department at (916) 874-5115 or Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP. Callers can remain anonymous.

This report received from the email list - Uptown Studios Community Update 7-20-07. www.qcrew.org

Today is the Diversity Summit in Sacramento. The local newspaper, Sacramento Bee has an article about it http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/284591.html

The article also talks about the differences of opinions on how to handle the situation. Some advocate a cautious investigation - finding the facts on who perpetrated the murder, was it really a hate crime, was it linked to the Russian/fundamentalist church teachings, and saying don't make the victim a martyr. Others say this was a hate crime, the community needs action for the safety of minorities, the situation needs to stay in the public eye (like with the vigil), the cause and effect of the Russian/fundamental church is real, and even counter protests at the Russian/fundamentalist churches that teach anti-gay action.

counter protests in front of fundamentalist churches? well that's jumping the gun and probably provoking even more tension.

Instead if the GLBT community is earnest they should ask for the orthodox' communities help with this case--it would be a less confrontational move that would likely be the most positive for the case and would be the best move for the GLBT community with respect to some of the more orthodox teachings of some of these churches. If they reject appeals to help then it'll show how pathetic it is they'd put their amorphous ideas of sin above an actual murder case. Creating an us vs them also probably won't help in terms of finding his killer or future relations.

I'm glad to hear that his family does feel the police dept is earnestly trying though. Hopefully they'll start find the killers responsible soon.

You know, there is no point even wasting time debating the hate crime nature. It is a hate crime. But even if it was debatable, who cares when the cops cant even catch the perpetrators who committed this crime in front of a ton of witnesses. Why is there so much press being wasted on whether this is a hate crime or not. Catch the freaking killers first. Then we can worry about what to charge them with.

Once again, I cannot say this enough. The victim had a sorry ass group of buddies.

The bad news: today marks 3 weeks to the day the crime was committed, with the criminals still at large.

The good news: the story is kept alive in the Sacramento area. Not to just dump a bunch of links here, but we had 3 excellent prominent articles in today's newspaper, Sacramento Bee, and yesterday Channel 40 news gave excellent coverage of the Diversity Summit and Channel 10 gave coverage to the CAPITAL (Council of Asian Pacific Islanders Together for Advocacy and Leadership) meeting to discuss the issue.

Great news video at fox40.com July 21, 2007, note you have to look for the video on the list "7/21 - Sacramento Diversity Summit" http://fox40.trb.com/

Sunday July 22, 2007, the SacBee.com (free subscription required) publishes 3 prominent stories:

Hate assailed at summit
Slavic bishop blasts prejudice in wake of Singh killing
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/285714.html

Tragedy of hate crime, murder rallies community
By Darrell Steinberg - Special to The Bee
http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/283945.html

Marcos Bretón: Community has stake in finding killer
http://www.sacbee.com/breton/story/285405.html

CAPITAL, Council of Asian Pacific Islanders Together for Advocacy and Leadership, met Saturday July 21, 2007 to discuss hate crime and the Satendar Singh crime. Although it made the News 10 tv news, there is not a story on their site. http://www.sactocapital.org/

Mark, do you have any idea why the authorities are not pressuring the friends of Singh to reveal more? How come no sketch? HOw can these friends just act like impotent morons? Have you heard anything serious from the local Indian community. From the links i read, it seems very minimal. Just a protest here or there. Even that latest link you put focuses on the Russian community not coming forward to give details. But what about the Indians who were there that day???????

Still taken aback that we have no new information.

Talk all you want about the issue.

BUT A KILLER IS STILL AT LARGER.

I really do hope that someone close to the friends can pressure them to rake their minds to figure out what the guy looked like.

Seriously how many who have gotten in a fight, don't remember what the other guy looked like?

Anyways, I would like to congratulate the Sacramento Police for emulating the Indian model of law enforcement. Inept, and ineffective.

Just to point out the cluelessness of his so-called-friends:

“I’m not pretty sure, but I think (Singh) responded by saying he wasn’t a gay,” one of Singh’s friends who witnessed the incident..."

ARE YOU SERIOUS? These people better have been taking some serious g-bong rips before the incident to be this absent minded.

This case frustrates me to NO end.

HOw can these friends just act like impotent morons?

Interesting choice of words.

Maybe you're not aware of the size of the Russian community in Sacramento... fear of harassment is a legitimate concern.

None of us have had to endure the trauma of seeing a friend killed before our eyes, so let's leave the harsh words out of it.

And why concentrate on the friends? What about the community? I've seen footage of a tribute put on by gay activists.

Where is the Sac-town South Asian community's voice in this matter?

I have held the community to task too. Also the friends are cowards. I do not have to be in the same exact situation. But I have been in dangerous situations, just not ending in death. And I can extrapolate how I would react in this. And I would not be letting the cops remain in the dark what the killers look like. If you read the article, the cops do not even have a sketch of the suspects. What the hell?

I am not trying to derail the discussion here ( and I may have missed press coverage as I was traveling- so please excuse the question) but why isn't there more outrage and publicity in the ( national) media over this whole horrifying incident? I am a self-confessed news junkie and this is the only place that I see this case being discussed. Whereas I remember the Laci Peterson and Natalie Holloway cases had - if anything - overexposure in the media -was Satendar not straight enough or white enough for his outrageous death to get coverage and maybe force someone to come forward with info?

Pravin, the group that later attacked Satendar was video taped earlier in the day. The police have pictures of the men and have the license plate numbers as well. His friends told the police everything they know. They were not cowards. It is just a matter of time before they are caught.

I believe an apology is due on my part. I wasn't aware that the police already had the information. In my rush to judgment, I made some foolish remarks. For this I sincerely apologize.

Today marks the 1 month anniversary of the murder of Satendar Singh. A good news/op ed piece ran in today's Sacramento Bee newspaper, page 1 Section B:

Marcos Bretón: Evading law isn't Christian at sacbee.com (free subscription required) August 1, 2007 http://www.sacbee.com/breton/story/302389.html

I have many questions also -

Why did the story not get wider notice? It barely rippled in San Francisco, 80 miles away.

Why have the criminals not been caught?

If the group was in danger, why did they not leave? At least gather useful information for their case like photos, video (everyone has a cell phone these days) descriptions of people and cars, call the police.

The park gate keeper was notified of the disturbance. Why did she/he not become more alert and at least make notes of the the vehicles and occupants leaving a potential crime scene?

Why are the facts of the events not published? Descriptions and sketches of the criminals and events.

Local groups are trying to get the word out.

There was a public vigil held at the state capitol bulding.

The gay community held a public diversity summit and formed a committee to follow up with local sheriffs and police.

The Asian Pacific Islanders held a public meeting on the event.

The local newpaper Sacramento Bee has run about 7 good articles and all the local tv stations have covered various aspects of the case.

I don't know all the facts. Although we hope people can get descriptions and license numbers, when violence erupts panic and emotion can blind us. And I am not suprised the California DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) was no help, their computer incompetence is well known.

Here is what I learned. Ignorance and hate still exist. We have to continue to look out for ourselves and others. When violence erupts we must be ready to defend ourselves by calling the police, fight or flight, documenting the incident with descriptions, photos, video, reporting the incident and not letting go of the incident.

Sacramento, California has been called one of the most diverse and tolerant communities in the USA. We still have work to do to make this country a more perfect union.

-Mark

More than a month now...

Breaking news: Suspect identified, 29 year old Andrey Vusik, has apparently fled the country.

From the local newspaper, Sacramento Bee, www.sacbee.com

Authorities say the man they're looking for has fled the country.

A month after the death of Satender Singh on a river beach at Lake Natoma, Sacramento County Sheriff's detectives have identified the man who allegedly threw the lethal punch and then fled the country, officials confirmed Tuesday.

http://www.sacbee.com/749/story/313268.html

Can't wait to go visit this guy in jail.

I have a few words. Please don't get mad at me Im just telling everyone what was told to me by people who where there. A few months now has passed One person is currently in custody the other one ( the guy that threw the punch is in his home country (coward ran away). I have read almost all the Sacramento bee articles regarding this incident and they all tell the story of the relatives of Satendar Singh. Yes the person that actually hit the deserver's to go to jail for a long while but this was not a hate crime. This is the story of the people that where there i am not 100% correct but im sure that the Sacramento bee doesn't have the whole story they like to cut out parts and focus more on other's :).
There where a few family's of Russian's (wait why am i calling the Russians they were from ..... Ukraine I believe ) they relaxing near lake natoma. They had there whole family children and all. Near them Satendar Singh has having a party with his realities friends, everything was ok until some of the people or person at the party/celebration threw a empty glass bottle near the others family. The glass bottle broke into peaces and the glass scattered near some of the younger children. When the guys went to confront the people/person who threw the bottle they were taunted cursed at and so on. It is said that Satendar Singh and his friends where drunk. (not 100% sure) Well from hear is when you hear the story from the news the people sent there family's away and well the fight happened where sadly Satendar Singh was punched falling unconsiance and hitting his head and dieing. Yes a person died and its sad. The guy that hit him should go to jail but this shouldn't be classified as a hate crime because the fight didnt start because Satendar Singh was gay but becasue they felt that the people endangered there family's and if you know any Russian (meaning all those Eastern Europeans or thats what Russian means these days) people if they fell threatened they will resort to violence.

Also on a second thought i have heard that the church is being blamed for this. I know for a sure that the guy that committed this horrendous crime is not a member of any church in Sacramento. And that if someone from any church was in this situation they would simply leave.

Sorry nano, that's not what happened.

I don't know about the rest of you, but after I'm involved in a violent melee where I've knocked someone unconscious, nothing clears my head like a nice long business trip to the motherland.