D.H.S. Takes Down Post Depicting Sikh Trucker and Optimus Prime
Critics said the post, which showed the popular Transformers character facing off against “Mr. Singh,” stigmatized Sikhs, and Hasbro objected to the use of its brand.
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The Department of Homeland Security removed a social media post on Thursday morning depicting a Sikh man and saying, “Get off our roads, you don’t know how to drive Mr. Singh.”
The post, which went up on Wednesday, showed a bearded man with a bandanna on his head facing off against Optimus Prime, a character from the Transformers franchise, depicted with the seal of the Homeland Security Department on his armor. It was immediately met with criticism from Indian American groups and Democrats, who called it a racist post that targeted Sikh Americans and stigmatized millions of people with similar last names.
Singh is a common last name for followers of the Sikh religion, which originated in South Asia. The timing of the posting, around the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, drew particular criticism. After the 2001 attacks, Sikh men, who traditionally wear beards and turbans, were mistakenly targeted in numerous anti-Muslim violent incidents.
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An image posted to the Department of Homeland Security’s X account, which appeared to show a Sikh man facing off against Optimus Prime, was removed the following day.Credit...Department of Homeland Security
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said the post depicted Harjinder Singh, an Indian man accused of causing a high-profile fatal crash last year that left three people in a minivan dead after an 18-wheeler collided with the vehicle on Florida’s turnpike. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of vehicular homicide and manslaughter.
The department called criticism of the post “nonsensical drivel.”“Harjinder Singh is an illegal alien from India who should never have been in our country,” the statement said.
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