FREMONT, Calif. (KRON) — A Union City man has been charged with a hate crime in connection with a religiously-charged rant at a Taco Bell, the Fremont Police Department said Monday. Singh Tejinder, 37, of Union City was charged after a video showed a man shouting at another man in a Fremont Taco Bell on August 21.
“He again said ‘Hey, pick up your bean burrito and leave. You’re a vegetarian right? You don’t eat beef. You should eat beef. You Indians should eat beef,’” the victim, Krishnan Jayaraman told KRON4 News.
Jayaraman also said the suspect spat on him and called Hindus “disgusting.” The rant lasted more than eight minutes, he said.
Police said that the department learned of the incident when a Taco Bell employee notified them of it. Officers responded to the store on the 40000 block of Grimmer Boulevard and found the two men in an “active argument.”
Officers interviewed both men involved and “confirmed that a disparaging comment about a particular religion was stated during the verbal argument,” FPD said. There was not enough evidence to confirm a hate crime, and Tejinder was not arrested.
Police reviewed the video and officers interviewed Jayaraman again. After the investigation was finished, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office charged Tejinder with a hate crime in violation of civil rights, assault and disturbing the peace by offensive language.
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Tejinder was not in custody in Alameda County as of Monday night, police said. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call 510-790-6803.
