While at least one U.S. House representative is linking a Wyoming truck stop stabbing to what he calls racist messaging from the Trump administration, local investigators say they have not yet determined the alleged stabber’s motive.
A 28-year-old Sikh truck driver, who’s gone public with his surname of Singh, was stabbed 17 times Sunday morning at a Wyoming truck stop, court documents say.
Singh told the Sacramento Bee that he noticed in the bathroom mirror a stranger approaching him from behind. The stranger slammed a fist into Singh’s head, then plunged a knife into his arms, chest and ribcage, the trucker told the outlet.
The alleged stabber, Andrew Kris Bzdak, 44, had an initial court hearing Thursday in Rock Springs Circuit Court, where he was read the charge of attempted first-degree murder, his file says. That charge is punishable by life in prison.
U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois, released a statement Thursday voicing horror in the wake of the attack.
Krishnamoorthi didn’t go so far as to call the stabbing racially motivated, but said it “comes amid rising hatred targeting Sikh and South Asian Americans.”
The representative noted “even the Trump Department of Homeland Security recently (posted) a racist caricature of a Sikh truck driver telling him to ‘get off our roads’ and ‘self-deport or find out.’”
The Sept. 9 DHS post, now removed, shows a cartoon resembling Optimus Prime facing off with a brown-complected man the cartoon calls “Mr. Singh.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and others condemned the post, while the agency said it was meant to depict Harjinder Singh, a trucker involved in a fatal Florida crash.
‘At This Point …’
Wyoming investigators say they don’t have any evidence at this point that the stabbing was motivated by race or social factors
“At this point, there’s no indication that it’s a hate crime,” said Sweetwater County Attorney Danny Erramouspe in a Friday phone interview.
He noted that “hate crime” in this sense means a crime motivated by racism or social animus, but Wyoming law doesn’t contain charging mechanisms for hate crimes in their technical sense.
Wyoming’s first-degree murder variation hinges, rather, on the attack being on purpose and with premeditated malice — regardless of the victim’s social or racial traits.
Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office public information officer Jeff Shaman said investigators continue to gather information.
“We have zero motive,” said Shaman. “All I can tell you right now is, no known motive.”
Like Erramouspe, Shaman said nothing in the investigation so far indicates a hate crime.
The FBI’s Denver office spokeswoman Vikki Migoya said Friday that as a matter of policy, the FBI typically doesn’t comment on the status or existence of any investigative work.
Hageman ‘Horrified’ By Attack
Wyoming’s Republican U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman didn’t wade into the hate-crime debate.
An outspoken champion of laws requiring English-language proficiency in commercial truck drivers and other truck-safety laws, Hageman voiced horror and concern over the attack.
“Wyoming suffers the highest rate of fatal truck accidents,” she said Friday. “Our truck stops should be the last place any driver finds themselves in danger.
"I am horrified by this attack and trust our law enforcement will get to the bottom of what happened. Our rest stops should be a refuge for everyone traveling Wyoming’s highways.”
More About The Attack
Area video recordings show Singh going into the truck stop toward the bathroom Sunday morning.
Another man walked in quickly after him, says the evidentiary affidavit Sweetwater County Attorney Danny Erramouspe compiled from the notes of sheriff’s Detective Stephanie Cassidy.
A woman in the ladies’ room heard grunting and screaming from the men’s room.
Singh told investigators later that a man attacked him from behind. Singh turned to push the man away, then noticed a knife in his hand.
Investigators later documented 17 lacerations on Singh’s body, including two stabbings in his neck and two in his chest, the affidavit says.
While the incident was unfolding at the truck stop, bystanders saw a man fleeing the area in a semitruck, the affidavit says.
The woman who’d heard screaming, along with her husband, ran to their vehicle and followed the runaway trucker east on Interstate 80 to Rawlins until they captured a photo of his truck and trailer, the affidavit says.
Video also shows Singh leaving the bathroom, losing his balance and losing consciousness at least once, the document adds.
The family that chased the trucker down returned to help Singh, he told the Bee.
Singh was rushed to the Wyoming Medical Center in Casper. From there, he asked police if they’d caught the person who’d hurt him, the affidavit says.
Wyoming Highway Patrol caught up with the suspect’s semitruck in Carbon County. He was detained and his vehicle impounded, the affidavit says.
The document says the driver was identified as Bzdak, from San Gabriel, California.
Thoughts And Prayers
Jakara Movement, a grassroots nonprofit that works to support and advocate for Punjabi Sikhs and other groups, released a statement Thursday saying its director of legal services, Jasjit Singh, flew to Wyoming to visit the other Singh, the alleged victim.
The alleged victim is a Sacramento resident, the statement says.
“He is recovering well and remains in chardikala — rising spirits,” it adds.
“We are grateful he is alive. This attack has only heightened our concern for the safety of Punjabi Sikh truckers and immigrant drivers across the country,” the statement says.
Jakara Movement is supporting Mr. Singh through his recovery and the legal process, the statement says, adding that Jasjit Singh has also been in communication with the appropriate law enforcement agencies.
“For now, we ask the community to continue keeping Mr. Singh in your thoughts and prayers,” the statement concludes.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
