Latest news with #BhushanAthale
India Today
3 days ago
- India Today
Indian-American jailed for hate crime against Sikh organisation staffer
A 49-year-old Indian-American man was sentenced to 26 months in prison for threatening to injure and kill employees of a Sikh non-profit organisation. Bhushan Athale, a resident of Dallas, Texas, is said to have a history of making faith-based pleaded guilty before US District Judge, Edward S Kiel, in Camden Federal Court to interfering with federally protected activities through the threatening use of a dangerous weapon and one count of transmitting an interstate threat to injure another person, the US Department of Justice said in a June 3 was punished for a federal hate crime and for making violent interstate threats against various individuals based on their religion, including the employees of a Sikh nonprofit organisation located in New Jersey. On September 17, 2022, Athale called the main number of the organisation that advocates for the civil rights of Sikh individuals within the US, leaving numerous messages over several hours threatening to injure or kill these individuals with a razor and other very specific acts of violence, the statement THREAT LACED WITH VIOLENT, HATE-FILLED LANGUAGEOn March 21, 2024, Athale again called the same Sikh organisation and left two more these voicemails, Athale again used violent, sexual imagery to express his hatred toward Sikhs as well as Muslims, according to the Department of addition to a 26-month prison sentence, Judge Kiel sentenced him to three years of supervised release. The judge also prohibited him from contacting any individuals targeted by his HAD A HISTORY OF MAKING RELIGION-BASED COMMENTS: PROBEadvertisement"The Department of Justice has no tolerance for hate-fuelled threats of violence in our country, and we appreciate the strong efforts of US Attorney Alina Habba and her team in working with us to bring this perpetrator to justice," said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights investigation showed that Athale has a long history of making religion-based comments and threats, such as when he previously took to a professional networking site to express to one of his former colleagues that he "hate(d) Pakistan" and "hate(d) Muslims", and he told the co-worker, "I hate you, I just don't know how to kill your whole family including you? Tell me??? I will figure it out.. Probably I will hire a Jew, they will be most happy (sic)".Habba credited the special agents of the FBI Philadelphia Field Office which helped with the Watch
Time of India
3 days ago
- Time of India
'Will cut hair with razor': Indian-origin Hindu man Bhushan Athale jailed in US for violent threats against Sikhs
49-year-old Bhushan Athale, an Indian-origin man in Texas, was sentenced to 26 months in prison for making violent threats against Sikh employees of a nonprofit organization in New Jersey. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Athale called the main number of the Sikh nonprofit organization and left numerous messages threatening to injure or kill these individuals, cut their hair with a razor etc. The first calls were made in 2022 and in January this year he pleaded guilty to "interfering with federally protected activities' by threatening to use a dangerous weapon and making an interstate threat to injure another person. He threatened to shave off her and other Sikhs' 'top and bottom' hair with a razor and called members of the religious group by profane names and other insults, according to the criminal complaint authorities wrote when the charges were filed. In 2023, he again called the same Sikh organization and left two more voicemail using violent, sexual imagery against 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. In a telephone interview with law enforcement in February 2022, the criminal complaint stated, Athale told investigators that he hated Muslims because they ruined India. 'The Department of Justice has no tolerance for hate-fueled threats of violence in our country, and we appreciate the strong efforts of US Attorney Alina Habba and her team in working with us to bring this perpetrator to justice,' said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
Scroll.in
3 days ago
- Scroll.in
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.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
North Texas man sentenced to federal prison for hate crimes against Sikhs
On Tuesday, a Dallas man was sentenced to 26 months in federal prison in a hate crime case in which he was accused of threatening members of a Sikh nonprofit organization because of their religion. Bhushan Athale, 49, pleaded guilty to one count of interfering with federally protected activities and one count of transmitting an interstate threat, in an agreement with prosecutors late last year, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release. On two occasions, from his home in Texas he called members of a Sikh nonprofit organization in New Jersey that advocates for Sikh civil rights, the criminal complaint stated. On Sept. 17, 2022, Athale called one member of the nonprofit multiple times, leaving seven voicemails threatening Sikhs with violence. He threatened to shave off her and other Sikhs' 'top and bottom' hair with a razor and called members of the religious group by profane names and other insults, according to the criminal complaint authorities wrote when the charges were filed. On March 22, 2024, the nonprofit again reported that Athale called from the same phone number and left two voicemails, expressing his hatred for Sikhs and Muslims with violent, sexual phrases, the press release stated. Athale had previously sent emails to a Muslim coworker in November 2021, explicitly stating that he hated Pakistan and Muslims, according to the criminal complaint. He had tried to message the coworker 345 times as of January 2022. In a telephone interview with law enforcement in February 2022, the criminal complaint stated, Athale told investigators that he hated Muslims because they ruined India. In many of his voicemails to the Sikh nonprofit, he also referenced Khalistan, a theoretical country that a subsect of separatist Sikhs are in favor of creating, according to the complaint. Athale questioned members of the nonprofit numerous times about where they would be creating the country. The case was investigated by agents with the FBI's Philadelphia Field Office. Along with the sentence of over two years in prison, U.S. District Judge Edward Kiel in Camden, New Jersey, sentenced Athale to three years of supervised release and told him to not contact the victims of his crimes.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Dallas man sentenced to 26 months in prison for hate crime threats against Sikh nonprofit
The Brief A Dallas man, Bhushan Athale, was sentenced to 26 months in federal prison for hate crimes and interstate threats. Athale made violent, religiously motivated threats against a Sikh civil rights organization in New Jersey in both 2022 and 2024. In addition to prison time, Athale will serve three years of supervised release and is prohibited from contacting his victims. A Dallas County, Texas man was sentenced to 26 months in prison for a federal hate crime and for making violent interstate threats against various individuals based on their religion. Threats include the employees of a Sikh nonprofit organization located in New Jersey. What we know Bhushan Athale, 49, of Dallas, Texas had previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Edward S. Kiel in Camden federal court to interfering with federally protected activities through the threatened use of a dangerous weapon and one count of transmitting an interstate threat to injure another person. According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, on Sept. 17, 2022, Athale called the main number of an organization that advocates for the civil rights of Sikh individuals within the United States. He left numerous messages over several hours, threatening to injure or kill these individuals with a razor and other very specific acts of violence. On March 21, 2024, Athale again called the same Sikh organization and left two more voicemails. In these voicemails, Athale again used violent, sexual imagery to express his hatred toward Sikhs as well as Muslims. What they're saying Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division released a statement regarding Athale's sentence: "The Department of Justice has no tolerance for hate-fueled threats of violence in our country, and we appreciate the strong efforts of U.S. Attorney Alina Habba and her team in working with us to bring this perpetrator to justice." What's next In addition to the prison term, Judge Kiel sentenced Athale to three years of supervised release and warned Athale not to contact any of the victims of his offenses. The Source Information in this article was provided by the United States Department of Justice.
