Attacker Screamed 'Terrorist Go Back to Your Country' as He Beat Darien Man

A Darien man was attacked this week by another man who repeatedly punched him through his car window while yelling “terrorist ... go back to your country,” according to police and a Sikh American organization.

The attack took place Tuesday on Cass Avenue as Inderjit Singh Mukker was on his way to a grocery store. A man was following Mukker in his car and cutting him off in traffic, according to a statement from the Sikh Coalition, and when Mukker pulled over to let him pass the man also stopped.

He yelled “terrorist” and “bin Laden” as he “began beating and punching him in the face ferociously,” Sikh Coalition Legal Director Harsimran Kaur told NBC Chicago. “His cheek was fractured, he had a laceration that required six stitches, he had black eyes, and bruising and swelling all over his face.”

Mukker, who lost consciousness, was taken to Adventist Hinsdale Hospital and treated for a fractured cheekbone and a severe laceration to his cheek. He received six stitches.

Darien police apprehended the attacker, and he is in custody at a local hospital.

Mukker is a cab driver, a father of two children and a U.S. citizen, according to a statement from the Sikh Coalition.

Articles of faith for religious Sikhs include turbans and beards.

“We believe Mr. Mukker was targeted and assaulted because of his Sikh religious appearance, race or national origin,” Kaur said in a media statement, and he called for the attack to be investigated as a hate crime.

“I’m thankful for the swift response of authorities to apprehend the individual, but without this being fully investigated as a hate crime, we risk ignoring the horrific pattern of intolerance, abuse and violence that Sikhs and other minority communities in this country continue to face.”

Police said the case was being investigated as a hate crime.

_________

photo of Inderjit Singh Mukker courtesy of the Sikh Coalition