On September 25, 41-year-old Sikh-American Maan Singh Khalsa was allegedly assaulted and had his hair cut by two white men in their "20s to 30s”.
The alleged attackers threw a beer can at his car window and then proceeded to pull his head out of the window and cut a fistful of his hair with a knife after yelling, "Cut his fucking hair."
Following this incident, Sikh civil rights organisation Sikh Coalition wrote a letter to the Richmond Police Department and the Contra Costa County District Attorney's office on behalf of Khalsa urging them to consider this a hate crime.
The coalition's Facebook post about the assault has now been shared over 2,400 times.
People expressed their outrage when sharing the post as well.
A California congressman Mark DeSaulnier also tweeted condemning the attack.
The diversity of our community is something to be celebrated. Acts of hate will not be tolerated. https://t.co/G5sSzEXFCe
A spokesperson for the Sikh Coalition told BuzzFeed that they strongly believe that Khalsa's assault was due to him being Sikh.
"There has been a universal condemnation of the attack. We have conveyed to law enforcement our belief that the attack was bias-based, which they are investigating further. The District Attorney's Office has responded to our letter and is reviewing the case," Sikh Coalition legal director Harsimran Kaur told BuzzFeed.