Members of one of the largest religious groups in the world say they have become the target of racist language and violence in Federal Way. Members of the Sikh community say they are now working on building relationships with City Hall to end that.
"It's part of our duty, too, as a citizen. The city cannot provide everything for you. Our duty is to work with the city, work with police work with the neighbors work with the police and let the community know things will be better," said Harchinder Singh Sandhu
Sandhu and other Sikh community members showed up to the City of Federal Way's Mayoral State of the City Address Monday.
Back in December, a Sikh man who is also the owner of a gas station in Federal Way says a man harassed and threatened to kill a Sikh employee, and yelled, "Go back to where you came from."
"We work hard. We are law-abiding people, but we look different that's why people pick on us. There is a lot of hate crime that happens to our community in this area," said Sandhu.
Federal Way police say that man was arrested on suspicion of a hate crime. While the mayor didn't address this incident in his state of the city address this evening, he says this has been an ongoing conversation with community leaders.
"I had previously asked our police department to work with the Sikh community to make sure our response time is shorter, to make sure we understand who the businesses owners are and have a partnership with them," said Mayor Jim Ferrell.
