Indian-origin man jailed in US for hate crime against staff of Sikh organisation
A court in the United States on Tuesday sentenced a person of Indian origin from Texas to 26 months of imprisonment for threatening to injure and kill employees of a Sikh non-profit organisation.
The man, Bhushan Athale, had in January pleaded guilty to 'interfering with federally protected activities' by threatening to use a dangerous weapon and making an interstate threat to injure another person.
In September 2022, Athale sent seven voicemails to the phone number of an organisation that advocates for the civil rights of Sikhs in the United States. In these calls he threatened to injure or kill the Sikh individuals working at the organisation.
In March 2023, he sent two more voicemails to the number of the same organisation, this time using violent imagery against both Sikhs and Muslims.
He had also sent 'hate-fuelled' emails and messages to a Muslim colleague in November 2021, a separate complaint against him said.
Along with 26 months in prison, Athale was also placed under three years of supervised release on Tuesday. He has been warned not to contact the victims of his offences.
The United States has 'no tolerance for hate-fuelled threats of violence', Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said.
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