A U.S. Senate subcommittee addressed concerns and ways to move forward Wednesday in the wake of the shooting that took place at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., last month.
On Aug. 5, white supremacist Wade Michael Page killed five people and wounded several others before killing himself.
The hearing of the Senate Subcommittee of the Constitution Civil Rights and Human Rights was titled “Hate Crimes and the Threat of Domestic Extremism.” Led by Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the hearing featured many witnesses calling to have crimes against Sikh citizens be tracked by the government to reduce violence.
Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., spoke at the hearing despite not holding a seat on the subcommittee.
Kohl said he was outraged and deeply saddened by the events of early August. He said Aug. 5 was a sad day for Sikh Americans and for all Americans. Kohl said any day an extremist hate group targets people of faith with violence is a terrible tragedy.
Kohl was one of the witnesses who called on the federal Department of Justice to begin tracking crimes against Sikhs.
“This will better educate law enforcement on the problem, and encourage the Sikhs to report crimes,” Kohl said. “These are steps that we must take to ensure that we never again endure the tragedy like the one in Oak Creek.”
Harpreet Singh Saini, who lost his mother in the shooting, spoke at the hearing. Saini spoke about how his parents brought him and his siblings to the United States in 2004 to give them a better life and education. His mother wanted them to have better opportunities, Saini said.
Saini said his mother made so many sacrifices for their family, and this was not the way things were supposed to happen.
“This was not supposed to be our American story. This was not our mother’s dream,” Saini said.
Roy L. Austin Jr., deputy assistant attorney general for the DOJ civil rights division, spoke about how he is working to enforce the federal hate crime law. Austin said events like the Oak Creek shooting remind them the work isn’t done.
“We will continue to vigorously enforce the law so that all individuals will enjoy the civil rights guaranteed by our constitution,” Austin said.
With the topic of reducing hate crimes comes discussion regarding whether there should be greater gun control restrictions.
University of Wisconsin political science professor Donald Downs, who also serves as an adviser to The Badger Herald, said the point of contention lies in that more gun control could result in a reduction of overall guns, but this may cause people to not be able to protect themselves against people who do have guns.
Downs said he believed the man who killed the six individuals at the Sikh temple would have gotten a gun, regardless. . He added that for all the people who are for more gun control, there is an equal number of people against it.
“Gun regulations do exist. The question is whether or not they go far enough,” Downs said. “The more gun regulations that exist, the more good people are prevented from having guns. This gives the bad guys that will obtain guns anyway a monopoly. It is really a dilemma.”
