Spokane, Washington: A man who had vandalised a Sikh Gurdwara Sahib in Spokane Valley, Washington, is now facing hate crime charges.
Sheriff’s deputies found 44-year-old Jeffrey C. Pittman standing naked, holding a Kirpan inside the Gurdwara Sahib of Spokane.
Following the latest incident in Spokane Valley, Pittman was booked into jail on charges of armed burglary, malicious mischief and malicious harassment based on religious discrimination – Washington’s version of a hate crime, The Spokesman-Review has reported.
Granthi Gurjeet Singh Aujla said that the accused had committed ‘beadbi’ of Guru Granth Shaib.
The intruder desecrated and vandalized the Gurdwara Sahib’s altar, the holy book and bedding, causing an estimated $30,000 in damage, a member of the management committee of the Gurdwara Sahib said.
As word of the incident spread, the mayors of Spokane, Spokane Valley, along with a host of other public officials and religious leaders, including members of the Muslim and Jewish faiths, gathered to publicly denounce the hate-crime.