A man who beat a 66-year-old Sikh man to death while calling him “turban man” after a fender bender in New York City has been charged with manslaughter as a hate crime, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Gilbert Augustin, 30, also faces charges including assault as a hate crime and unlicensed driving in the Oct. 19 death of Jasmer Singh, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced.
Prosecutors said Augustin called Singh “turban man” during an argument that followed their crash on the Van Wyck Expressway in Queens.
The family of Singh, who wore a turban as part of his Sikh religious practice, had pushed for hate crime charges to be filed against Augustin.
The altercation began after Singh’s Toyota collided with Augustin’s Ford Mustang. Both men pulled over and Augustin got out of his car and confronted Singh, prosecutors said.
A witness said Augustin said “No police, no police” and repeatedly referred to Singh as “turban man” as they argued, prosecutors said.
Being charged is not the same as being convicted of a hate crime. It still needs to be proven beyond a doubt in court that it was a hate crime.
I hope they get his ass on that, but I'm not holding my breath that the courts can prove beyond a doubt.