Bhushan Athale, a 49-year-old American from Dallas, Texas, has been sentenced to 26 months in prison for committing a federal hate crime and making violent interstate threats against multiple individuals based on their religious beliefs. This includes targeting employees of a Sikh nonprofit organization based in New Jersey.
This decision was announced by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon from the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department and U.S. Attorney Alina Habba of the District of New Jersey.
Athale previously pleaded guilty in Camden federal court before U.S. District Judge Edward S. Kiel to charges of disrupting federally protected activities through the threat of a dangerous weapon and for transmitting an interstate threat to harm another individual.
Interestingly, on October 17, 2024, Vikash Yadav, a former Indian government agent, was charged in the United States for allegedly attempting to assassinate a Sikh leader in New York. This case is linked to Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a prominent critic of the Indian government, who leads a U.S.-based organization advocating for the secession of Punjab, a state in northern India with a significant Sikh population seeking the establishment of Khalistan.
However, there was no evidence to suggest that Athale had any specific grievances regarding Khalistan.
According to court documents and statements made during the proceedings, on September 17, 2022, Athale called the main phone line of the organization advocating for Sikh civil rights in the U.S., leaving numerous threatening messages over several hours. In these messages, he threatened to harm or kill individuals using a razor and described other violent acts in detail.
On March 21, 2024, he made another call to the same organization, leaving two additional voicemails filled with violent and sexual imagery aimed at both Sikhs and Muslims.
“The Department of Justice has zero tolerance for threats fueled by hate in our nation. We commend U.S. Attorney Alina Habba and her team for their dedicated efforts in bringing this offender to justice,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon from the Civil Rights Division.
Alongside his prison sentence, Judge Kiel ordered Athale to undergo three years of supervised release, explicitly stating that he should not contact any of his victims.
U.S. Attorney Alina Habba acknowledged the FBI Philadelphia Field Office’s special agents, led by Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs, for their role in the investigation.
The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sara A. Aliabadi and Jason M. Richardson from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Camden, New Jersey, with support from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
