A Sikh Truck Driver Was Stabbed at a Rest Stop. Others Feel Targeted Too.

For years, Gurvinder Singh has hauled energy drinks, snacks and other items from California to supermarkets and big-box stores across the country, one of more than 100,000 Sikhs earning a living in the trucking business.

In the wee hours of Sept. 13, Mr. Singh pulled into a rest stop in Wyoming to use the bathroom. Moments later, he was ambushed and stabbed repeatedly by a white man. He was airlifted to a hospital in Casper, Wyo., where he was treated for 17 lacerations, including to the neck, chest and arms.

“I am close to the sink and suddenly I am hit on the neck and then punched in the face,” he recalled on Saturday, after being discharged from the hospital.

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Local law enforcement arrested Andrew Kris Bzdak and charged him with attempted first-degree murder. His bail was set at $1 million. Authorities have not yet determined a motive.

The attack occurred amid a surge in hostile rhetoric targeting Indians of Sikh faith. Members of the monotheistic religion, who traditionally wear turbans and maintain beards, have become the face of the Trump administration’s efforts to bar certain immigrants from operating commercial vehicles.

Just days before the stabbing, the Department of Homeland Security posted an image on social media of a bearded man in a head covering with the caption “Get off our roads, you don’t know how to drive Mr. Singh,” the most common Sikh surname.

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DHS said the post depicted Harjinder Singh, a Sikh man (no relation to Gurvinder Singh) accused of causing a fatal collision last year that left three people in a minivan dead in Florida. The agency removed the post the next day but dismissed complaints about it as “nonsensical drivel.”

“It’s impossible to separate the stabbing from the DHS post and the Trump administration’s rhetoric,” said Jasjit Singh, legal director of the Jakara Movement, a nonprofit that advocates for Sikhs in the United States.

“Just because we don’t know the motive doesn’t mean this was random,” said Mr. Singh, a lawyer in Northern California whose father was a truck driver for four decades.

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As older truck drivers have retired, immigrant drivers have increasingly filled the void. About 200,000 foreign drivers hold licenses that allow them to operate commercial vehicles, and about half of them are Sikhs.

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“I can’t help but think that I was attacked because of my dark skin, features, and my religion,” [Gurvinder Singh] said, adding that he was aware of the DHS social media post. His head was uncovered at the time, but he maintains a beard and wears a kara, a traditional silver steel bracelet symbolizing spiritual strength.

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