SAN JOSE, Calif. (Diya TV) \u2014 San Jose State University is investigating an on-campus assault of a Sikh student as a possible hate crime, after the incident prompted concern and calls for action from students and community groups.<\/p>\n
According to student media and advocacy groups, five individuals assaulted a Sikh San Jos\u00e9 State student near MacQuarrie Hall around 12:45 a.m. on February 7, 2026. The assailants, who are reported to be non-students, allegedly targeted the student based on his ethnic and religious appearance.<\/p>\n
Witness accounts shared by student organizations say the men forced the student to the ground and removed his dastaar, or Sikh turban, which the Sikh community regards as a religious article of faith. Another student reportedly recorded the incident, but that video has not been made public as of this week.<\/p>\n
San Jose State University has confirmed the incident and says campus police are treating it as a possible hate crime. In a statement, the university said that \u201chate crimes are evil acts that harm entire communities and have no place in our community,\u201d and noted that it is reviewing safety measures and support services for affected students.<\/p>\n
Student leaders have organized a town hall meeting to discuss the assault, the broader campus climate, and potential policy changes. The Sikh Collegiate Federation at SJSU says it plans to present a list of requests, including cultural sensitivity training and Sikh awareness programming, in an effort to prevent similar incidents.<\/p>\n
Because witnesses say the attackers referred to the victim as Hindu during the assault, leaders from a local San Jose Hindu temple have also alerted their community and are monitoring the situation. Both Sikh and Hindu groups in the area have expressed concerns about the safety of visibly observant students and have encouraged community members to report any related incidents.<\/p>\n
Federal statistics indicate that bias-motivated crimes against religious minorities, including Sikhs and Hindus, remain a persistent concern. The FBI\u2019s 2022 hate crime report recorded 198 anti-Sikh hate crime victimizations nationwide, the highest number for Sikhs since detailed tracking began, and listed Sikhs among the most frequently targeted religious communities.<\/p>\n
In the most recent FBI data set, Sikhs remained the third most-targeted religious group, with 153 anti-Sikh victimizations reported for 2024, even as overall reported hate crimes decreased slightly compared to the previous year. Anti-Hindu hate crimes more than doubled between 2021 and 2022, and are continuing to grow. Civil rights organizations caution that federal numbers likely undercount the true scope of hate-motivated incidents because of underreporting and differences in local reporting practices.<\/p>\n
The reported assault comes after other bias-related incidents at or near San Jose State in recent years. In November 2025, racist graffiti and a written threat of violence, including hakenkreuze (commonly referred to as swastikas) and a warning about a potential mass shooting, appeared in a MacQuarrie Hall bathroom and led to increased security and class cancellations for some courses.<\/p>\n
Past reviews of separate, earlier hate-crime allegations at SJSU prompted the university to examine its communication, reporting, and response procedures. Officials have said those reviews inform ongoing efforts to strengthen policies intended to protect students from harassment and discrimination.<\/p>\n
The investigation into the February 7 assault is still underway, and as of now, authorities have not publicly announced any arrests or specific charges in the case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN JOSE, Calif. (Diya TV) \u2014 San Jose State University is investigating an on-campus assault of a Sikh…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[85299,93,85300,88,90,89,85301],"class_list":{"0":"post-179605","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-diya-tv-usa","9":"tag-featured","10":"tag-hindu-hate-crime","11":"tag-san-jose","12":"tag-san-jose-headlines","13":"tag-san-jose-news","14":"tag-sikh-hate-crime"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}