I'm going to kill you': Sikh man racially abused in California; probe ordered

San Francisco: A Sikh man in the US state of California has claimed that he faced racial slurs from a man who threatened to kill him, prompting police to launch a probe into a possible hate incident.

Balmeet Singh and his friends were out for dinner at California Avenue. The incident took place when Balmeet went out of the restaurant to make a phone call. He said in the middle of his conversation, a man walked out of a cafe and headed straight toward him. “The man said you’re trying to blow up this country, I should kill you. I’m going to kill you right now. And he used a lot of curse words and he seemed very angry,” Balmeet was quoted as saying by the local media Turnto23.com.

“He yelled and then threw a drink at me, which got all over my turban, beard, clothes and phone,” Balmeet said.

After this, the man walked towards the parking lot and Balmeet followed him to get his description, vehicle number and licence plate number, which he gave to police. Balmeet said he never expected anything like that to happen in Bakersfield city.

“Everything I do is here in Kern County, and to have someone tell me that I’m trying to blow up the country and I’m going to cause some harm is shocking,” he said.

Balmeet said the worst part of about the incident was that several people saw what happened and no one stepped in to help.

A report was filed at the Bakersfield police department (BPD) and they are investigating it as a hate incident, police said.

“We do have a potential suspect, but the incident remains under investigation. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact police,” the BPD said.