The Sikh Coalition

Let's End Ignorance and Profiling in Harris County

At the beginning of the Thanksgiving weekend,the Tagore family came home to find their home burglarized. When they called 911, HarrisCounty deputies were dispatched to investigate. But instead of pursuing the thieves, the police officers ordered Ms. Kawaljeet Kaur to hand over her kirpan – a religious article mandated by the Sikh faith – which she wore over her shoulder. Ms. Kaur offered to leave the room if her kirpan made the officers uncomfortable, but to no avail.

Instead, she, along with her brother, mother and cousin, were handcuffed and led into the street. One officer asked the family whether they had “heard about the bombings in Bombay” while another told them that he “knew about Muslims.” Hours later, the entire family, humiliated and violated, was released without being arrested or charged.

Dear Mr. Garcia & Judge Emmett, 

We are outraged at the behavior of Harris County deputies towards the Tagores – a Sikh American family that lives in Houston - over the Thanksgiving weekend. We ask that, in your roles overseeing the Harris County Sheriff’s Department, both of you pledge to take strong measures in response to this the incident. 

These Harris County deputies behaved in an unforgivable and shameful manner. There is no excuse for their behavior. The Tagores had called the police in their time of need, when they were most vulnerable. Instead, the police attacked them for practicing their own faith in their own home, and completely ignored the investigation they were there to conduct. 

We ask that you, Sheriff-elect Garcia and Judge Emmett, promise to ensure that the deputies involved in this incident are disciplined, that the Harris County Sheriff’s office takes decisive steps to put an end to racism and profiling by its officers, and that the Sheriff’s office apologize to the family for the deputies’ behavior.

We (the undersigned) call on you to guarantee every American’s right to practice their faith without fear of persecution by law enforcement personnel.

0-25 of 2530 signatures

Number	Date	Name	Feel free to leave a comment for Judge Emmet and Sheriff-Elect Garcia.
2530	November 09, 2009	Rupinder Singh Randhawa	This is proposterous. Since the formation of the Sikh faith our cultural history is only helping those needy people whomever were fortunate to share an close radius with us... whether it was Muslim invaders coming into India, the first and second World Wars (even England had a Sikh Regiment), or even the day of 9/11 (first off-duty doctor who arrived to help was a TURBANED SIKH MAN)... this if unforunate that your state allows such ignorant, moronic, barbaric, primitive individuals slip through the cracks and get a nice gun and badge... please prosecute these monsters and dont allow bullies to stack up the ranks of your police force.
2529	August 20, 2009	jawinder singh
2528	May 29, 2009	Olga Gutiy	Take the proper action. Issue an apology, train these officers. Do whatever necessary to comfort and re-assure this family.
2527	May 10, 2009	Anonymous	Dear Sir Please take action the officers who were involved in such gross violations of basic human behaviour. By not taking any action, What message are we conveying to the American public and to the world?
2526	April 29, 2009	Mandeep Singh	Please do Justice that's what we pay our taxs for isn't it?
2525	April 29, 2009	Michael Kalam	Dear Sirs, I am currently a Magistrate based in the UK. I along with my family have been considering moving to Texas for the last 6 months. However from researching the city and so many reported cases of police brutality this most definitely is not a place I would wish to raise my children. The fact that no action has been taken clearly shows the hypocrisy of the American system. You appear to be ready to spread and support the idea of free society yet your own people are so backwards. It is so interesting to actually generate facts on the American people. Everything from your waistlines to the percentage who actually have ever travelled outside of the USA gives reason for great discussion. You may be advanced in terms of technology however your great nation lags far behind other countries in terms of your culture and beliefs. I firmly believe that taking no action against these officers send out the absolute wrong message about your nation. Please consider how you would feel it your family were subjected to this kind of treatment. How on earth can your city possibly require officers of this moral standing? Taking no action gives venom to the many anti USA supporters both internally inside the US and internationally. America may of once been the greatest nation on the earth but its these exactly policies which has most definitely taken that title right away from you. PS please do not ignore our plea for JUSTICE. There is both a moral and legal duty for you to act. No righteous moral person could possibly ever look over these events without taking action!
2524	April 24, 2009	Gurleen Dhaliwal
2523	April 19, 2009	Karen Uppal	Whatever happened was terrible and should not happen again, Americans need to stop being ignorant and have respect for other religions and cultures. Sikhs are not terrorists
2522	March 23, 2009	Anonymous	Its a shame and if it is true I hope you liable for the actions of the officers. You are in charge and your children will act if you have not disciplined them properly. Remember one this we are all foreigners in this land even though you are born in USA. We are all foreigners. Shame on you.
2521	March 19, 2009	Anonymous	This is unacceaptable! We look for law enforcment to protect us, not abuse us. If we cant look towards the goverment for justice then who will we turn to? Please to justice in this case so that it never happens again.
2520	March 11, 2009	Praveen Samaroo
2519	March 03, 2009	Anonymous
2518	February 11, 2009	Anonymous	Cop's training should have a subject that tells about Sikh religion. Judge Emmet i think you should badly penalize the cops.
2517	February 03, 2009	Anonymous	I have a friend who is a prosecutor for Harris County. He once said to me, "A problem we face as a society is: How do you make a decent police force out of the kind of people who want to be cops?" Good question. I have been amazed for many years that Americans (or Texans, at least, since I've lived my whole life in Texas) accept such a brutal, ignorant police force. The way the Tagores were treated is an outrage. Sadly for our community, it was not the first time something like that happened nor will it be the last. I hope that there is some justice in the end. It may take a very long time.
2516	January 30, 2009	Mukhbir Singh	The constitution provides one the assurance to practice their religion and live their life free of racism and discrimination.
2515	January 28, 2009	Anonymous	Honorable Judge, It is appauling that anyone has to go through this kind of humiliation in the 'Land of the Free'. Every religion promotes peace and harmony. But a few commit hideous crimes in the name of religion, that doesn't mean the whole community is responsible. Justice needs to be served and at the same time community service and education in the Sikh faith is in order. Let's remind ourselves of 'The Constitution'.
2514	January 27, 2009	Jasdeep Dulku
2513	January 20, 2009	Ishkaran Talwar
2512	January 14, 2009	Anonymous	Houston is known to have such cops
2511	January 13, 2009	Paramvir Gill	This is not what the founding fathers would have wanted of this country.
2510	January 11, 2009	Sukhjinder Singh	GOD give some sense to "AMERICA"
2509	January 10, 2009	Joshua Ebinesan	Shame on you Americans.
2508	January 10, 2009	Parminder Singh Jaswal	These officers should be terminated from their jobs immediately and should be dragged to court for this harassment.
2507	January 10, 2009	Rajinder Singh
2506	January 09, 2009	hardeep kaur

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