A man accused of beating a 66-year-old Sikh man to death after a minor car crash this month was motivated by “rage inflamed by hate,” the Queens district attorney said on Tuesday while announcing that the killing was now being prosecuted as a hate crime.
The man charged in the killing, Gilbert Augustin, repeatedly called the victim, Jasmer Singh, who was wearing a turban as part of his faith, “turban man” before attacking him brutally, the district attorney, Melinda Katz, said in a statement.
The killing of Mr. Singh occurred amid what New York police officials have described as a wave of reported hate crimes in the city since the war between Israel and Hamas began.
Image Jasmer Singh, who was beaten to death in Queens earlier this month after a fender-bender.
The deadly encounter between Mr. Augustin, 30, and Mr. Singh, both Queens residents, happened just before noon on Oct. 19, after Mr. Singh’s car collided with Mr. Augustin’s on the Van Wyck Expressway, Ms. Katz said in her statement.
Persons:
Gilbert Augustin, Jasmer Singh, Melinda Katz, Mr, Singh, Augustin, Augustin’s, Katz
Organizations:
New York, Hamas, Mr
Locations:
Queens, Israel, Van Wyck