We know that many of us are still in shock and grieving those whom we lost in the April 15th shooting at an Indianapolis FedEx Ground facility where 90% of employees are Punjabi Sikh. The fact that this tragedy took place during the Vaisakhi holiday makes the news even more devastating for the community. Eight lives were lost to this senseless act of violence by a White shooter, four of whom were Indian Americans of the Sikh community. The deceased victims names are: Matthew R. Alexander, 32; Samaria Blackwell, 19; Amarjeet Johal, 66; Jasvinder Kaur, 50; Jaswinder Singh, 68; Amarjit Sekhon, 48; Karli Smith, 19; and John Weisert, 74.
ANA Advocacy Committee condemns this act of anti-Sikh violence as well as bigotry and hate of all forms. We extend care and support to members of our Sikh and South Asian community within ANA during these difficult times. We have included community resources for the Sikh and South Asian community below.
Indianapolis FedEx Facility Family Support Fund:
https://gofund.me/5b27f013
The Sikh Coalition
Hate Reporting Tool (for Sikh and non-Sikh Americans): http://www.reporthate.org/
Gurdwara Security Toolkit: https://www.sikhcoalition.org/resources/gurdwara-security-toolkit/
South Asian Therapists Directory:
https://southasiantherapists.org
On behalf of the ANA Advocacy Committee,
Vanessa Zhou and Sana Arastu