A White Oregon man, Andrew Ramsey, 24, is facing hate crime and assault charges after he attacked a local Sikh business owner over cigarette rolling papers, reports HuffPost.
Harwinder Dodd, the owner of the Salem market, told the local news organization,KATU , off-camera that the incident arose when Dodd refused to sell cigarette rolling papers because Ramsey did not have his ID.
Justin Brecht, a legislative policy advisor in the Oregon State Capitol and a former Marine, was one of the bystanders who intervened and witnessed the build up to Ramsey’s attack. Similar to Dodd’s comment, Brecht said that Ramsey grew increasingly aggressive when Dodd said he could not sell him the rolling papers.
“The guy ran up to the store owner. He grabbed him by the beard and started punching him, threw him to the ground and started kicking him,” said Brecht to KATU.
Police also say that Ramsey threw his shoe at Dodd before attempting to steal his turban—a religious headwear holding both political and spiritual significance to practicing Sikhs.
Ramsey, who can be seen smiling in an undated photo released by the Marion County Sheriff’s Department, will also face charges of assault in the fourth degree, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass, reports Seattle Times.
“We believe it had to do with the worker’s ethnic background and possible religious beliefs,” said Lieutenant Treven Upkes of the Salem Police Department.
While Brecht and other witnesses held Ramsey down until police arrived, Dodd did receive numerous cuts on his arms and hands as well as a large scrape on his elbow.
Catherine Van, a reporter at KATU, tweeted that the store owner told her has experienced discrimination in the past, but this is the first time it led to physical violence.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsThe store owner tells me he has faced discrimination at his store before–people telling him to go back to his country—but he says this is the first time it became violent. He got a couple of scrapes and bruises, but says he’ll be fine. #LiveOnK2 pic.twitter.com/UmZHIq1yXk
— Catherine Van (@cat08van) January 16, 2019
“That is something I certainly hate to see in Salem, and it doesn’t belong here; there’s no place for that kind of behavior here,” said Brecht.
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