Ro Khanna and Rich McCormick, the two House members who jointly lead the US India Caucus, sent a formal request to the Department of Justice and the FBI urging action on what they described as a growing pattern of threats and hostility directed at Hindu and Indian American communities. The call came in the wake of an attempted mass shooting at a Hindu temple in Aurora, Illinois.
Alexandros Paporakis, 19, faces charges of making a terrorist threat and unlawful weapon possession, stemming from an alleged plan to carry out a mass shooting at the Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Temple in Aurora, a Chicago-area community.
A joint statement from Khanna and McCormick urged the DOJ and FBI to classify the matter as a potential federal hate crime, file every charge the available evidence warrants, and determine whether any individual — operating through digital platforms or in person — had a hand in inciting, facilitating, or coordinating action with the person charged.
In a joint letter addressed to DOJ Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel, the lawmakers described the incident as reflecting patterns they considered worth examining across a wider context. FBI figures cited in the letter pointed to a rise in hate crime reports involving Sikh, Hindu, and Buddhist communities during 2025. Separately, data gathered by the Centre for the Study of Organised Hate indicated that anti-South Asian posts on X climbed by approximately 240 per cent over the period spanning January 2024 through June 2026.
According to a 2026 Carnegie Endowment survey, roughly a quarter of Indian American adults said they had encountered a racial slur directed at them at some point after January 2025. The letter noted that the Aurora incident illustrated the threat posed by what it described as a pattern of growing hostility.
The caucus letter urged authorities to distribute timely threat-related information to state and local law enforcement agencies as well as Hindu temples, Sikh gurdwaras, and other South Asian houses of worship, alongside protective resources. It also requested a briefing on threats directed at Hindu Americans and Indian Americans and the measures the Department and FBI have put in place to address those threats.
Separately, Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi disclosed that he and his family were present at their Hindu temple in Aurora on Sunday when a gunman, later identified as a white supremacist, carried out an attempted mass shooting that targeted Indian Americans. Krishnamoorthi conveyed appreciation for those whose actions helped avert a broader catastrophe, while calling for collective efforts to address the hostility behind an episode that placed numerous civilians at risk.
India's Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal conveyed that the incident had drawn the government's attention as a matter of concern and pointed to a pattern of hate crimes and racial discrimination affecting Indian nationals living in the United States. Jaiswal also acknowledged the steps taken by American law enforcement following the event and urged authorities there to uphold the protection of Indian citizens in the country. The person accused in connection with the case was taken into custody on 11 October.
When a colleague flagged unusual electronic messages to authorities, an investigation was set in motion that same day. Among the items retrieved by investigators were a written plan detailing the attack, multiple firearms, hundreds of rifle cartridges, tactical gear, protective body armour, and a personal document bearing the title "Why I Fought: A.K."
The document, later labelled the Aurora shooter's manifesto, contained passages articulating a white supremacist ideology. According to the prosecution, the defendant had openly declared adherence to white supremacist beliefs and voiced a desire to harm people of Indian descent. No verdict has been delivered on these claims, which remain before the courts awaiting a formal determination of guilt or innocence.
