"YOU ******* ARAB! YOU ******* GO BACK TO YOUR ******* COUNTRY BEFORE I ******* KILL YOU!"

I picked up a story at SALDEF via Sepia Mutiny about a brutal police assault in Joliet, Illinois.

A police officer noted a van with an expired tag sitting in someone's driveway, so went and knocked on the door to speak with the owner. When Kuldip Singh Nag, an American Sikh veteran, receiver of the bronze star in the first Gulf War, rebuffed the police officer's order that he park the vehicle in the garage because it was inoperable, and on his driveway, which is Mr. Nag's private property, the police pepper sprayed him and started assaulting him while shouting "YOU ******* ARAB! YOU ******* GO BACK TO YOUR ******* COUNTRY BEFORE I ******* KILL YOU!"

Did I mention that Mr. Nag was beaten and assaulted this way in front of his wife and 6-year-old daughter? That he had to spend 5 days in the hospital for injuries?

This man fought for our country. He's an American citizen, a decorated veteran, and did not deserve to be treated like this. NO ONE DESERVES TO BE TREATED LIKE THIS. I've spoken many times about the police and they're bullying attitude. Police believe that because they have the weapons and armor they are somehow better than the rest of us. I believe they view us as the serfs who live on their land, mere vassals who live only to obey their orders.

Worse, this officer let some prevailing notions of xenophobia, fed by shows like "24" that anyone in a turban, or anyone with a brown skin, must be an Arab, must be a terrorist, must be repressed, abused, and put down.

It angers me that actions like this continue, and that as of yet, the officer has not faced any disciplinary action. I'm asking my readers to join SALDEF in speaking out against this horrible act of brutality. Demand action. Demand justice. Mr. Nag deserves it, and if we let this kind of thing go unchecked, it won't just be Sikhs who are targeted. It could be us next.

Remember, the founding fathers didn't establish this nation on the basis of white rights, or American rights, but HUMAN RIGHTS. And these actions are violation of Mr. Nag's essential human rights.