UNITED SIKHS Demands Justice For Family Of Parmjit Singh Kang After California Court Orders The Release Of Suspect Charged With The Vicious Slaying Holding Insufficient Evidence And No Motive

October 7, 2020

Tracy, California

Last week, on Thursday, October 1, 2020, a San Joaquin County, California judge released 22-year-old white male, Anthony William Aldo Kreiter-Rhoads, who was charged and held without bail for over a year for the vicious murder of Parmjit Singh Kang in a Gretchen Talley Park on August 25, 2019 in Tracy, California.  See Record of Arrest And Disposition Here.  UNITED SIKHS followed up by demanding again that the U.S. Department of Justice intercede and investigate whether the vicious and cowardly murder of this Sikh grandfather was a crime motivated by racial and religious hate given factors already known about the case.   

Judge Michael Mulvihill of the San Joaquin County Superior Court released Kreiter-Rhoads, who apparently has patriotic hopes of joining the U.S. Marine Corps, citing lack of sufficient evidence, lack of probable cause and lack of motive.  See Here.  Initially, only a year earlier, a judge of the same court ordered Kreiter-Rhoads held without bail pending the trial.  See Here. 

The assailant cut the Sikh grandfather’s throat, which caused him to bleed out before help could arrive.  The victim was an elderly Sikh man and was unarmed.  The wounds showed serious and vicious intent to kill.  “It’s shocking to see such horrific wounds — clearly, this was done by someone who knew what they were doing,” a member of Mr. Singh’s family stated. 

A witness, Mr. Althen, reported to the police that, at the time, Mr. Singh may have fought with the assailant in a struggle that appeared to be “a game of tag.”  

Now, after more than a year, the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s office said prosecutors will consider refiling charges but state the Tracy Police would need to provide more evidence.  The community believes that only FBI intervention, focusing on a hate crime motive, will produce the necessary evidence that may bring the murderers to justice but have called on that agency to intervene in the past.

“All of the indications of a possible race and or religious hate motive are present in this case, states Jasmit Singh of UNITED SIKHS, an organization that called for a hate crimes investigation days after the murder. “But prosecutors and police should have cast a wider net for proof.”

Although hate crimes are up, law enforcement are under no obligation to report and often cite concerns about accuracy to explain their discomfort with charging a hate crime or reporting hate crimes numbers. See this link. Civil rights activists are wondering whether under this system, investigations of race supremacists and domestic terrorists involvement are being accurately investigated. “The civil rights community has repeatedly stated that racial and religious hate crimes perpetrated in the name of race supremacy and false patriotism have become a national emergency that each day go unabated because national law enforcement agencies are not accurately reporting,” states Wanda Sanchez Day, National Legal Director at UNITED SIKHS.  

UNITED SIKHS has reached out to the Department of Justice, the FBI, Governor Newsome and other local officials who attended Parmjit Singh’s funeral in 2019, just days before 9/11.   The FBI has already begun interviewing the family after UNITED SIKHS filed a report on their behalf on Friday.   

“We stand against hate of any kind but especially when one of the most vulnerable members of our community is taken in a senseless and cowardly attack.  We demand justice and peace for Parmjit and all victims of hate crimes.   We are here to show solidarity in demanding justice for those who cannot be here today to speak for themselves, stated Jasmit Singh. 

Issued By:
Wanda Sanchez Day
National Legal Director
law-usa@unitedsikhs.org
UNITED SIKHS