FBI Probes The Hate Crime; Trump Repeats ‘America First’ Slogan

New York, Mar 01: The deadly shooting of an Indian engineer and wounding of his co-worker last Wednesday at a bar in Kansas is being investigated as a hate crime, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Tuesday.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who was killed and Alok Madasani injured, both are 32 years old, worked as engineers at U.S. company Garmin, in the shooting by navy veteran Adam Purinton, who yelled “terrorist” and “get out of my country” before opening the fire on them.

They were at Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, a Kansas City suburb, when the shootings have occurred.

Another man, Ian Grillot, was wounded on the incident when he chased after the accused shooter, American Navy veteran Adam Purinton, 51, who has been charged in the shootings. He apparently mistaken the Indians for immigrants from the Middle East.
“Based upon the initial investigative activity, the Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI), in conjunction with the United States Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, is investigating this incident as a hate crime,” the FBI said in a statement.
The FBI said that it would work with the Olathe Police Department and state and local partners regarding the enquiry.
At least one bystander said that Adam Purinton shouted “Get out of my country” before opening the fire-The Kansas City Star newspaper reported.
The incident received international attention and in India, some people suggested on social media that a climate of xenophobia in the United States had been fuelled by President Trump’s statements on immigration.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Friday that it was absurd to link the killing to Donald Trump’s “America First” stance.
On Yesterday, the White House said it was looking more like the shooting was based on race.

“As more facts come to light and it begins to look like this was an act of racism motivated, we want to say again that the president condemns these or any other racially or religiously motivated attacks in the strongest terms,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told to medias.

Donald Trump on Kansas Shooting:

Even as he blamed last week’s shooting in Kansas, American President Donald Trump said today that enforcing immigration rules is the only way to keep the country safe.

“We blamed the hate in all its ugly forms, the threats targeting Jewish centres and the Kansas shooting,” said Donald Trump in his first address to the American Congress since he took office in January.

The American  President repeated his “America First” slogan from his US Presidential campaign and said that “America must put its own citizens first, because only then can we truly make America great again.”

Trump also said that he will continue to tighten immigration rules.

“We are going to move away from lower-skilled immigration and adopt a merit-based system. By finally enforcing immigration laws, we will raise remunarations, help the unemployed, save millions of dollars and make our communities safer,”

-US President Donald Trump.

Donald Trump also vowed to destroy Islamic State but struck a minor conciliatory note when he said the Americans will seek the help of its Muslim allies in doing so.

“We are also taking strong measures to protect our nation from radical ISIS terrorism. Islamic State kills Muslims, Christians and people of all faiths. We committed to destroying it with help of our allies including in Muslim world,” he adedd.

-With Agency Inputs