US Sikhs ask for hate-crime probe after man told 'go back to your own country' and shot

'Tone matters in our political discourse, because this is a matter of life or death for millions of Americans,' says The Sikh Coalition

Members of the Sikh community have called on police to open a hate crime investigation after a masked attacker shot a man on his driveway and told him to "go back to your own country".

The 39-year-old victim was working on his vehicle outside his home in Kent, Washington State, when a man, wearing a mask covering the lower part of his face, started arguing with him.

Described as 6ft-tall and stocky, the attacker said words to the effect of, "go back to your own country", before shooting the victim's arm.

His injuries are not life-threatening and he is recovering in hospital following the attack late last week at the home, which is just south of Seattle.

Police have launched a manhunt for the suspect but New York-based civil rights group, The Sikh Coalition are asking for authorities to brand it as a hate crime.

“While we appreciate the efforts of state and local officials to respond to attacks like this, we need our national leaders to make hate crime prevention a top priority," said the group's interim programme manager, Rajdeep Singh.

“Tone matters in our political discourse, because this is a matter of life or death for millions of Americans who are worried about losing loved ones to hate.”

Jasmit Singh, leader of the Sikh community in Renton, near to the victim's home, also told The Seattle Times: “The climate of hate that has been created doesn’t distinguish between anyone.”

The incident comes after an Indian engineer was gunned down in a Kansas bar and told “get out of my country”.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla died from his wounds, while another Indian man Alok Madasani was injured. A third man, Ian Grillot, attempted to chase the gunman, believing his weapon’s magazine was empty, before being shot himself.

Adam Purinton 51, was charged in Johnson County, Kansas, with one count of premeditated first degree murder and two counts of attempted premeditated first degree murder.

Ms Kuchibhotla's wife, Sunayana Dumala, has since called on Donald Trump’s administration to fight hate crime.

The Southern Poverty Law Centre says there were more than 200 incidents of anti-Muslim hate crimes in the US in the three days following Mr Trump’s election.

There were 257 anti-Islamic motivated crimes reported in 2015, compared to 296 in 2001 amid 9/11, according to FBI data.