2012 Sikh Temple Attack: American leaders appeal to Sikh community, urge to rise above hatred

Remembering the victims of the 2012 mass shooting at a Sikh gurdwara in the state of Wisconsin, top US leaders urged the community to rise above hate, and bigotry, and work to end gun violence in the country.
On August 5, 2012, Army Senior Wade Page stormed a gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, and shot six worshipers before shooting himself.
A seventh person injured in the attack died of his injuries in 2020. Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna and Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers expressed their respect for the Sikh community on Twitter on Saturday.
In his tweet, Khanna wrote, "Today marks 11 years since the deadly shooting at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. As we remember those who were tragically killed, let us Condemn hate in any form and continue working to end the epidemic of gun violence in this country."
Governor Evers said, “Today we gather to remember the victims of the attack at Oak Creek Shrine. We must end the hate at all costs.”
Asserting that there is no place for hate in Wisconsin, Senator Tammy Baldwin tweeted that on the 11th anniversary of the mass shooting, she was "thinking of all the dead, survivors and their families. I extend my heart to Wisconsin's Sikh community." I stand with."
Sikhs are expected to account for 0.1 percent of the US population by 2021, the sixth largest religious group in the country.
He has long been a victim of hate and racial crimes in the US, and things took a turn for the worse after the September 11 attacks, when he was mistaken for a Muslim because of his long beard.
Balbir Singh Sodhi, a 49-year-old Sikh businessman, was the first victim of a hate crime linked to 9/11.
According to the recent data revealed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a total of 1,005 religion-related hate crimes were reported in the US in 2021, with Sikhs being the most targeted religious group.