Police chief's son arrested for assault on septuagenarian Sikh man in California

Agencies
August 9, 2018

New York, Aug 9: The son of a police chief in a Californian city is among two teenagers arrested and charged with attempted robbery and abuse of a 71-year-old Sikh man on Monday, the second attack on a minority community member in the US state within a week, authorities said.

The investigators are trying to determine if the attack was a hate crime.

Police arrested 18-year-old Tyrone McAllister and a 16-year-old male juvenile yesterday for the attack on Sahib Singh Natt on the side of a road early morning on August 6 in Manteca.

McAllister, the son of Union City Police Chief Darryl McAllister, and the juvenile have been charged with attempted robbery, elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon.

The Manteca Police Department said it received numerous tips which assisted in the identification of the suspects.

Investigations Supervisor sergeant Miller said the public assistance in providing information with this case was instrumental in identifying the suspects and helped in making a quick arrest.

Meanwhile, McAllister's father posted a statement on the Facebook page of the Union City Police department saying he is "completely disgusted" to find out that one of the suspects in this "horrific crime" is his son.

He said his son has been "estranged" from his family and home for several months now.

"Words can barely describe how embarrassed, dejected, and hurt my wife, daughters, and I feel right now. Violence and hatred is not what we have taught our children; intolerance for others is not even in our vocabulary, let alone our values," the senior McAllister said in the statement.

He said it is difficult for his family to comprehend how one of his three kids, raised with the same values and character, wandered so far astray.

"In the eyes of the public, no matter the irrelevance to the incident, the fact remains that the father of the perpetrator of this despicable crime is a police chief, period," he said.

Disturbing footage from a surveillance camera shows Natt walking alone on the side of a road early morning on August 6 when two men, wearing hoodies, walking from the opposite direction approach him.

Natt stops on seeing the men and the duo are seen talking to him. Natt then walks past them but they continue to follow and talk with him.

After a brief argument, one of the men, who is wearing a black hoodie, suddenly kicks Natt in the stomach and the elderly man falls down on the road, with his turban coming off.

He tries to get up and defend himself but the man again kicks him in the stomach. Natt falls on the road as the man who attacked him comes close to him and appears to touch his face and spit on him. They then walk away as Natt is lying on the road.

A few seconds later the man in the black hoodie runs back and viciously kicks Natt three times near his head as he lay on the street. He then starts leaving again, pauses, turns around, and then spits at Natt.

The police chief said his "stomach has been churning" from the moment he learned the news of the attack on Natt and that his son was involved.

He also said his son began to lose his way a couple years ago, while he was a juvenile, running away and getting involved in a bad crowd.

"He got into trouble for some theft-related crimes and ended up spending several months in juvenile hall," the senior McAllister said, adding that his son was again arrested for a theft-related incident, and he ended up spending another three months in adult jail as a result.

"Since being released he has been wayward and has not returned to our family home for several months," he said.

The police chief said he and his wife worked with Manteca Police to help them track their son down and arrest him.

"He now faces serious felony charges...My family is shaken to the core," he said.

The attack on Natt is the second on a Sikh man within a week in California.

On July 31, 50-year-old Surjit Malhi was attacked while putting up campaign signs in support of incumbent Republican Congressman Jeff Denham and other local Republican candidates at Stanislaus County.

While beating Malhi, the attackers yelled "Go back to your country!" and spray painted the same message, along with hate symbols, on his truck.

Sikh advocacy group The Sikh Coalition has urged members of the community to remain vigilant and report cases of bias, bigotry and backlash in the wake of the attacks.

"We are deeply troubled by these two attacks and strongly encourage increased vigilance nationwide as we work to support the Central Valley, CA community during this difficult time," Sikh Coalition legal director Amrith Kaur said.

"If you or someone you know has experienced a potential hate crime, please reach out to our team. We have a seasoned team of lawyers who can provide free legal advice and support you through the process to protect your rights," she said.

The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA) also condemned the attack on Natt.

"We stand in solidarity with the Sikh community against the bigotry and racism that fuels hate crimes like this one nationwide. These kinds of incidents are becoming increasingly common under the Trump administration and are direct attacks on religious liberty in the US," CAIR-Sacramento Valley's executive director Basim Elkarra said.

In the past, CAIR had stood in solidarity with communities of various faiths and backgrounds that are subject to hate crimes.

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News Network
May 20,2020

Washington, May 20: Once dubbed as historic by him, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he now feels ‘differently’ about the trade deal he signed with China earlier this year.

He said this while once again venting out his frustration with the Beijing leadership, accusing it of letting coronavirus spread.

Till Tuesday, over 92,000 Americans have died and 1.5 million tested positive for coronavirus that has globally killed around 320,000 people.

The US and China had signed a deal in January to end their 22-month-long trade war during which the two countries slapped tit-for-tat tariff hikes on products worth nearly half a trillion USD.

Under it, Beijing agreed to increase its purchase of US goods by USD 200 billion in 2020-2021.

“I feel differently now about that deal than I did three months ago,” Trump told reporters during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.

“We will see what all happens, but it's been a very disappointing situation. A very disappointing thing happened with China because the plague flowed in and that wasn't supposed to happen and it could have been stopped," he said.

Trump said he was very excited when the trade deal with China was signed.

“But once the virus came in, once the plague, as I called it, came in, I said how did they let that happen? And how come it didn't go into other sections of China? Why did they block it from leaving Wuhan? But they didn't block it from going to the rest of the world, including the United States. Why is that? Beijing doesn't have it. Other places don't have it,” he said.

Trump did not respond to questions on retaliation against China.

Meanwhile, top American senators continued to press the administration that rules of engagement with China needs to change post-coronavirus.

“As we know, they unleashed this virus on America and the world with their classic communist cover-up, deception, continued propaganda campaign, costing now over 90,000 American lives, 35 million Americans losing their jobs so far,” Senator Martha McSally said during a Congressional hearing.

“We don’t know who patient zero is, they destroyed samples, they silenced doctors, they kicked out journalists, they impacted international travel to seed this and their reckless behaviour continues to be the root of all this,” she said.

As a result of coronavirus, the American economy has been thrown into recession; more than 36 million people have lost their job – the worst ever after last century’s great depression.

Many of the US states have now started opening up, after taking necessary precautions.

By conservative estimates, it will take several quarters for the economy to be back on track.

Trump in the last a few weeks has exuded confidence that the economy will be back on track next year.

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News Network
April 26,2020

Seoul, Apr 26: A train presumed to belong to North Korean's Kim Jong-un has been spotted at a station in the state's eastern coastal town of Wonsan amid speculation about the leader's health, a US monitor said on Sunday, citing commercial satellite imagery on the region, Yonhap news agency reported.

According to 38 North-- a website devoted to analysis about North Korea, the imagery showed a train "probably belonging to Kim Jong Un parked at the Leadership Railway Station servicing his Wonsan compound since at least April 21."

"The approximately 250-metre long train, although partially covered by the station's roof, can be seen at a railway station reserved for use by the Kim family. It was not present on April 15 but was present on both April 21 and 23," it said.

"The train's presence does not prove the whereabouts of the North Korean leader or indicate anything about his health, but it does lend weight to reports that Kim is staying at an elite area on the country's eastern coast," it added.

The report came as rumours about his health have spread as Kim apparently skipped an important annual visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on the occasion of the April 15 birthday of late state founder and his grandfather, Kim Il-sung.

CNN intensified the speculation by reporting earlier last week that the United States is looking into intelligence that Kim is "in grave danger" after surgery.

Seoul officials have disputed recent media reports about Kim, saying there have been no unusual signs from the North. Some said that Kim is presumed to be staying in Wonsan for unspecified reasons.

Washington has also dismissed the reports, with US President Donald Trump calling such reports "incorrect" in a press briefing late last week.

On Saturday, other media reports stated that China has dispatched a team of medical doctors and officials to North Korea "to advise on" Kim, citing multiple unnamed people familiar with the situation.

North Korea's state media, however, has not made any mention of Kim's public activity for two weeks since he was last seen in April 11 presiding over a major party meeting, though it has reported on his handling of routine state affairs, such as sending diplomatic letters.
But not all speculation has proven to be false.

When he was absent from public for about a month in 2014, speculation arose about his health and a political crisis in the secretive state. He later reemerged with a cane and a limp reportedly after having a cyst removed from his ankle.

The 36-year-old leader is known to have various health problems apparently caused by obesity and heavy smoking. He took office as leader of the communist state after his father, Kim Jong-il, died of a heart attack in late 2011.

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News Network
May 15,2020

May 15: Global deaths linked to the novel coronavirus passed 300,000 on Thursday, while reported cases of the virus are approaching 4.5 million, according to a news agency tally.

About half of the fatalities have been reported by the United States, the United Kingdom and Italy.

The first death linked to the disease was reported on January 10 in Wuhan, China. It took 91 days for the death toll to pass 100,000 and a further 16 days to reach 200,000, according to the Reuters tally of official reports from governments. It took 19 days to go from 200,000 to 300,000 deaths.

By comparison, an estimated 400,000 people die annually from malaria, one of the world’s most deadly infectious diseases.

The United States had reported more than 85,000 deaths from the new coronavirus, while the United Kingdom and Italy have reported over 30,000 fatalities each.

While the current trajectory of COVID-19 falls far short of the 1918 Spanish flu, which infected an estimated 500 million people, killing at least 10% of patients, public health experts worry the available data is underplaying the true impact of the pandemic.

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