Source: The Daily News
http://www.dailynews.com/news/articles/1201/08/new04.asp
On December 8, 2001 The Daily News reported "Valley Sikh's beating branded as hate crime." The article began, "Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, liquor store owner Surinder Singh Sidhu has been wearing a star-spangled turban to show his patriotism -- and to protect himself. For a Sikh fearful of being mistaken for a Muslim, it worked until this week when, he said, thugs entered his North Hills store, accused him of being Osama bin Laden, the hated al-Qaeda leader, and beat him with metal poles. ...Kirtan-Singh Khalsa, spokesman for the Khalsa Council, an international council for Sikh affairs, said the crime was regrettable but not surprising. More than 200 have been reported nationwide, he said."