California's largest Hindu temple defaced with graffiti containing political messages
The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir was defaced with vulgar messages against India's prime minister.
Authorities estimate repair costs exceed $15,000.
The Hindu American Foundation urged federal authorities to investigate.
CHINO HILLS, Calif. - An investigation is underway in Chino Halls after the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, the largest Hindu temple in California, was vandalized with graffiti containing political messages.
What we know
Deputies responded to the temple located at 15100 Fairfield Ranch Road just after 9 a.m. to investigate a report of vandalism.
Photos published on X by the Hindu American Foundation show the entrance to the temple covered with spray-painted graffiti containing vulgar messages against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, the cost of repairing the damage exceeds $15,000.
What we don't know
No video surveillance was released, and no suspects have been identified.
The investigation is ongoing, and authorities are seeking information from the public.
What Is BAPS?
Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha is a socio-spiritual Hindu faith established by Bhagwan Swaminarayan in the early 20th century, according to the faith's website.
The faith has over 5,000 centers worldwide and over 100 centers in the U.S.
What they're saying
The Hindu American Foundation called on federal authorities to investigate the defacement in its post.
BAPS Public Affairs account posted on X that the Hindu community would stand "steadfast against hate."
"Together with the community in Chino Hills and Southern California, we will never let hate take root. Our common humanity and faith will ensure that peace and compassion prevail," the post read.
Condemning the incident, the Coalition of Hindus in North America (CoHNA) said that it was "just another day in a world where media and academics will insist there is no anti-Hindu hate and that Hinduphobia is just a construct of our imagination".
While calling for an investigation, the advocacy group listed 10 temples across the U.S. that have been vandalised or burglarised since 2022.
What's next
Deputies have notified Chino Hills Code Enforcement about the incident. The Chino Hills Police Department is encouraging anyone with information to come forward. Anonymous tips can be reported via the We-Tip Hotline at 1-800-78CRIME (27463) or online at wetip.com.
The Source
Information for this story is from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department and the Hindu America Foundation.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
7 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
Texas House Democrats join Chicago anti-Trump protest in Loop
Hundreds of protesters gathered at Millennium Park Saturday afternoon to rally against redistricting efforts in Texas that could give Republicans five additional U.S. House seats in next year's midterm elections. They were joined by more than a dozen Texas House Democrats who have stayed in Illinois since Aug. 3 to block the gerrymandering. The legislators urged their supporters across the country to continue opposing the Texas Republicans' efforts. 'Our plan was to wake up the nation,' Texas State Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, D-San Antonio, told the crowd. 'Our plan is to fight in the courts. We hope they're fair this time. Our plan is to make sure our messaging gets to you.' The Texas Democrats intend to return to the Lone Star State Monday, according to a Texas House Democrats spokesperson and Texas State Rep. Armando Walle, D-Houston. Saturday's protesters directed much of their frustration at President Donald Trump, who has supported Texas Republicans' proposed map. The rally was one of more than 200 similar protests planned across the country, and follows other coordinated anti-Trump events like the No Kings protest in June and Good Trouble Lives On protest in July. 'I think Trump is genuinely eroding away at our basic democratic freedoms, crippling the legal system, attempting to violate separation of powers,' said Sophia Liu, a student at the University of Chicago who attended the protest Saturday. Protesters heard from members of the Texas delegation and local leaders, including U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez and Chicago Federation of Labor secretary and treasurer Don Villar. Then, they marched down Michigan Avenue and Adams Street to Federal Plaza, chanting 'Whose house? Our house' and 'immigrants are here to stay.' Democrats around the country have attacked the Texas gerrymandering plan for its timing, saying redistricting shouldn't happen in the middle of the decade. As the Texas controversy moved further into the national spotlight, several other states have considered upping their own partisan gerrymandering efforts. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, proposed a ballot initiative Thursday to give Democrats five more U.S. House seats, the AP reported. Gov. J.B. Pritzker said earlier this month that though he doesn't want to, he hasn't taken redistricting off the table. Other Republican-controlled states, including Missouri, are also considering, or at least not opposed to, mid-decade partisan redistricting as well. Some protesters were uneasy at the prospect of back-and-forth partisan redistricting. Luke Hopkins, a current graduate student and former U.S. Marine who lives in North Center, said he thinks Texas' redistricting efforts 'are a clear abuse of power' and 'not what democracy is about.' Still, California's response was somewhat 'troubling,' he said shortly after writing 'veterans against Trump' in blue chalk at Federal Plaza. 'You have to fight fire with fire sometimes,' he said. 'I don't think either is very good for democracy overall.' But for Liu, California's pushback is necessary to make sure there's still meaningful opposition to Trump after the midterm elections. 'I can imagine, if another thing like the 'Big Beautiful Bill part two' came out,' it would harm millions of Americans,' she said, referencing the Republican-led federal legislation that heavily cut social services while increasing funding for immigration enforcement. 'And I think that's a greater harm than gerrymandering in the moment.' In the long term, Liu said she would support efforts to end all partisan gerrymandering. But Texas House Democrat leader, State Rep. Gene Wu, said the escalations between Texas, California and other states aren't simply a tit-for-tat political battle. Instead, he said, there was a clear 'attacking' and 'defending' force — comparing the situation to 'Russia invading Ukraine.' 'What California is proposing would only happen if Texas chose to do the wrong thing,' Wu said. With California and other Democratic states' gerrymandering threats in place, Wu said he and his colleagues have a safety net to return to the state, where they are likely to lose the redistricting fight in the Republican-controlled Texas legislature. They look to legally challenge the Republican-drawn maps next, Wu said. 'Our chances in court I think are good,' he said. 'I know we don't trust the courts, but I think this is something that is so racist, so unconstitutional, that the courts cannot look away.'
Politico
4 hours ago
- Politico
They want Pedro Pascal to do WHAT?
Former Vice President Kamala Harris could have been the predictable frontrunner in California's gubernatorial race, but ever since she announced her decision not to run, the once subdued campaign to lead America's most-populous state has broiled with uncertainty. Most voters are undecided. Most of the declared candidates are people you haven't heard of. Which has politics-watchers from Sacramento to Washington wondering: Who, oh who, could it be? So we asked a range of experts from within and beyond the POLITICO newsroom — journalists, academics, political operatives and others — how they'd answer that question. And we added an important caveat: They could pick anyone, no matter how unlikely it is that they'd ever make a bid for the governorship irl. Realistic or not, their choices reveal a lot about this moment. Some of their picks spoke to the long arc of California politics. Some engaged with the ever-evolving relationship between politics and culture. All of them made one thing clear: The race to lead the state President Donald Trump loves to hate is going to be a doozy. Read the story.'I'm not naive enough to think that the president is going to get rid of RFK, but I will say that … there are concerns about some of the staffing decisions over at HHS.' Can you guess who said this about HHS? Here's a hint: They seemed to direct this at RFK Jr.'s principal deputy chief of staff, Stefanie Spear. Scroll to the bottom for the answer.**Why Is D.C.'s Mayor So Zen? ... For a blue-city mayor, Washington's Muriel Bowser has made a lot of concessions to President Donald Trump — from tearing up the Black Lives Matter street mural to launching a hate-crime investigation over anti-Tesla graffiti to pushing through a football-stadium subsidy favored by the GOP. 'And he kicked her in the teeth anyway,' writes Capital City columnist Michael Schaffer. With the White House assuming control over the police department, Schaffer spoke to insiders — and Bowser herself — about her strategy for dealing with all this about a deposition? We get it — no one can keep up with everything Laura Loomer says or does. But her deposition for her case against comedian Bill Maher, who speculated that Loomer might be having an affair with Trump during the 2024 campaign, is sure to come up in conversation this weekend, so make sure to throw out these talking points. Otherwise, your friends in Washington might look down on you for being a well-adjusted person with a life beyond social media. (From Associate Editor Dylon Jones) — Everyone will immediately reach for the most outlandish pull quotes, but as a refined student of cyber-MAGA, you can provide background context on the key players: 'It's interesting that the whole basis of Loomer's lawsuit is that Maher is the reason she isn't working in the White House, because she seems to have quite a lot of influence over staffing the federal government herself. The Daily Beast found at least 16 people who got fired after she called them out.' — Show off your knowledge of this whole scandal by pointing out something important that the wild parts of the deposition have overshadowed: 'Why do we even have this deposition? Puck wrote that Loomer's legal team released it, even though the judge wanted it to be confidential.' — Bring the conversation up out of the gutter and try for a serious point about geopolitics: 'The MTG vs. Loomer feud actually speaks to the broader rift within MAGA over Israel, with MTG, Rep. Thomas Massie and others in the party growing increasingly skeptical of our support of the country.' — Do not say anything about that fast-food restaurant. Special Forces Made Her Life 'a Living Hell' ... Courtney Williams' job was to help the Army's most elite and top-secret unit cover its tracks in the field. But when she got to Fort Bragg in North Carolina, she says she faced a culture of misogyny, harassment and discrimination — turning her life into 'a living hell.' Williams shares her story with investigative journalist Seth Harp in this excerpt adapted from his new book, The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces. 'Her story is a cautionary tale for just how bad it can get for female service members and civilian employees in elite units shrouded in secrecy and steeped in privilege and impunity,' Harp writes. 'It is a rebuke to those who believe, wrongly, that the military panders to women and minorities.'Dining With Putin's 'America Guru' ... Russian President Vladimir Putin has a top foreign policy adviser who spent 10 years in Washington as Russia's ambassador to the United States. It's because of that background that he's known as Putin's 'America guru.' But before that, back in Washington, he'd get lunch every few months with Toby T. Gati, who used to work for the State Department and the National Security Council. 'Looking back, I can see now how my interactions with [Yuri] Ushakov reflected larger trends in U.S.-Russian relations,' he writes. 'They feel the U.S. is the enemy; their hope had been that making money would always be more important to us than anything else. That hope was misplaced. As the Russians see it, the U.S. is now driven by hegemonic aspirations.'A Shift on Israel ... Amid starvation in Gaza, the longstanding bipartisan consensus in the U.S. of supporting Israel is beginning to shift on both sides of the aisle. 'Strategically and militarily, Israel is more powerful in the Middle East now than at any time in this century,' writes Daniel Drezner. 'The price Israel has paid for these military successes, however, is considerable. The erosion of public support could have long-lasting effects on Israel and its relationship with vital allies.'From the drafting table of editorial cartoonist Matt Wuerker.**Who Dissed? answer: It was conservative influencer and longtime Kennedy critic Laura Loomer, speaking to POLITICO Playbook. politicoweekend@
New York Post
5 hours ago
- New York Post
NFL's Washington Redskins should restore name, logo says family of Indian chief it was based on
In July 2020, the NFL's Washington Redskins announced it would drop its name and Native American logo, which some deemed offensive. The team adopted the name Commanders in 2022. But the family of the man the logo was based upon — Blackfeet tribal chief John Two Guns White Calf — says no one bothered to ask their opinion. Below, his nephew, Thomas White Calf, tells The Post President Trump's recent support for the team's Blackfeet heritage gives the family hope for the first time that its voice will be heard. Blackfeet Chief Two Guns White Calf was my great uncle and a great American icon. Americans know his face: he was the face of the Washington Redskins for 48 years, until he was cancelled in 2020. Americans once knew his story. Advertisement White Calf defended tribal traditions in our Blackfeet homeland in Montana, where many of us still live today. He went to Washington D.C. where he forced the U.S. government to honor Indian treaties. He served as a model for the U.S. Mint's famous 1913 'Indian head' nickel. White Calf's face is still a collector's item. The family Chief Two Guns White Calf wants his image restored to the NFL team. Getty Images Uncle Two Guns was friends with Teddy Roosevelt Jr., New York Gov. Al Smith and made President Calvin Coolidge a member of the Blackfeet Nation. White Calf was so famous in his era that his death in 1934 was front-page news across the country. Advertisement White Calf became the proud warrior face of the Redskins in 1972, championed by Blackfeet leader Blackie Wetzel and with support of Native Americans across the country. Cancel-culture racists decided at some point they wanted to get rid of Indian images in the public domain. The Redskins and Two Guns were their No. 1 target. White Calf's name was dropped from the Redskins narrative. His life story was erased from history. Even worse: Uncle Two Guns was dehumanized. He was ridiculed as a 'savage and clownish mascot.' The National Congress of American Indians Fund, which led the effort to erase and ridicule Uncle Two Guns, was funded in part by the George Soros foundation. Advertisement They reduced a hero to a clown so they could remove American Indians from American history. Polls by the Washington Post and others showed that 90% of Indians supported the Redskins. Nobody cared what Indians thought. Nobody asked the White Calf family for our opinion. The family of Blackfeet chief John Two Guns White Calf is deeply grateful to President Donald Trump for his bold calls to bring back the Washington Redskins and expose racial injustice. Washington's NFL team is now known as the Commanders. Getty Images Advertisement President Trump cares. And here is our opinion: it is time to correct history and end racial injustice. We ask that the Washington Redskins — still the Redskins to us — work with President Trump to reclaim their rightful name and their proud image of American hero John Two Guns White Calf. We ask that the White Calf family be given a seat at the table. We ask that a Hall of Honor be established within a new Redskins stadium where the public can celebrate Two Guns White Calf, the Blackfeet people and American Indian contributions to the founding of the United States. Finally, we ask that the American Indian never be erased, dehumanized or forgotten again. God Bless the Blackfeet. God Bless President Trump. And God Bless the United States of America.
