Oak Creek Shooting: 10-year Anniversary Commemoration

The six lives lost at the hands of hate on August 5, 2012

Photo via SALDEF

Jasleen Kaur

August 5, 2012.

I woke up Sunday morning to a blaring television; this wasn’t an unnatural occurrence, though. I didn’t realize it wasn’t a typical day until I walked downstairs and saw my parents and sister surrounding the TV in absolute shock. I tried peering around them until I saw the CNN headline: “Gunman, six others dead at Wisconsin Sikh temple.” The whole day, we watched the news. Anything we could find. That was my whole day, looking at the news every second and hoping that something good was going to happen, but it never did. We got calls asking if our family was safe and well every minute of that morning and afternoon.

It started out as a normal day at the Oak Creek Gurdwara (Sikh Temple). Worshippers walked in through the doors, took their shoes off, covered their heads, and headed into the area where harmonious prayer filled every inch of the room. However, this day soon turned deadly when Wade Michael Page, a white supremacist with neo-nazi ties, walked through those doors into a place that embodied peace and equality and pulled off one of the deadliest hate crimes in US history, killing six and injuring four before turning the gun to his own head. The effects of this 9mm semi-automatic handgun still reverberate ten years later, establishing August 5, 2012, as a day that lives in infamy for every Sikh living in modern America, leaving a hole in their hearts that will never heal.

The Commemoration.

August 5, 2022 marks the 10-year anniversary of this horrific hate crime that instilled fear in the hearts of countless Sikhs across the country. An event of this enormity threatened the right to practice religion freely for Sikhs in this country and led to Sikh hate crimes becoming more frequent. Ever since 9/11, Sikhs have been targets of hate crimes due to their prominent outward appearance (uncut hair/turban, beard, mustache).

Nearly 11-years later, the deadliest religious hate-crime in the US occurred in Oak Creek, and again, opened a door for division. However, the Sikh and non-Sikh communities in Wisconsin refused to let this occur. Over the course of August 4, 2022 to August 7, 2022, the Sikh community of Wisconsin commemorated the 10-year anniversary of the Oak Creek shooting through events that reiterated the goal of unity between the Sikh and non-Sikh community. All events of this commemoration were held in Oak Creek, Wisconsin and were sponsored by the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), Sikh Coalition, and the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee.

August 4, 2022. The first day of the commemoration focused on the Healing from Hate & Protecting Places of Worship Forum. This forum was hosted by the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee. This event briefed its participants on religious hate crimes and laws and included many speakers varying from those who had been involved in hate previously but now work on violence prevention, members of violence and hate prevention organizations, US Department of Justice community relations service personnel, and the mayor of Oak Creek. The forum also provided resources from law enforcement on the local and federal level in order to measure the safety of places of worship and how to prevent and respond to hate crimes against places of worship. This event truly was interfaith with speakers from the Oak Creek Sikh temple, Jewish Federation of MKE, Islamic Society of MKS, and Reverend Walter Lanier, a pastor of Progressive Baptist Church of Milwaukee.

August 5, 2022. Marking the official 10th anniversary of the hate crime, a candlelight vigil of remembrance was held at the Oak Creek Gurdwara. Non-Sikhs and Sikhs alike came together to commemorate the lives lost during this horrific event and show support for the Sikh community of America. This vigil represents unity; it shows the world that light will shine through the shadow of darkness.

*Candlelight vigil at the Oak Creek Gurdwara*
*Photo via SALDEF*

August 6, 2022. The bulk of the events for the commemoration occurred at the Oak Creek Gurdwara on Saturday morning and afternoon. Many Sikh organizations from across the country set up tables in front of the Gurdwara in order to educate the community on their specific activities and show their support for the Wisconsin Sikh community. Sikh historical displays were also present in order to educate the public on the role Sikhs have played throughout the history of the world.

*Sikh Historical Displays*
*Photo via SALDEF*

A large portion of this day was dedicated to a plethora of workshops. Anyone was welcome to attend any of the workshops no matter their faith. The workshops consisted of the Sikhi 101 workshop, Civil Rights/Hate Crimes hosted by the FBI, Current Threat Levels and Resources for Communities hosted by the Department of Homeland Security, Interfaith Bridge Building hosted by Interfaith America, and a Youth Mobilization session held by Tarina Ahuja. I personally contributed to the Sikhi 101 workshop as I created posters used in the session. The posters described the basics of Sikhi, Sikh values, common fallacies and the truth, the Sikh identity, and how to interact with Sikhs with respect. The day ended with a discussion panel with the family members of the six lost lives.

Sikhi 101 Workshop held by Amman Seehra of SALDEF.
Photo via SALDEF

August 7, 2022. The final day of this commemoration was celebrated through the religious practices of Sikhism. The Akhand Path, the continuous reading of the Sikh holy scripture (Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 1430 pages) without break, was finished that morning. The four days of remembrance concluded with Kirtan which is the singing of Sikh hymns, called Shabads, while playing the harmonium, an Indian-classical instrument. The Kirtan was done by Sikh youth from Wisconsin and Illinois.

The Lesson.

The Oak Creek Gurdwara shooting was an absolute tragedy that left the Sikh community in the US in a constant state of fear. Unexpectedly, an act of hate actually led to an influx of support from the non-Sikh community in Wisconsin; it ended with unity. One of the core values of Sikhi is the belief that we are all equal and one. The response to the Oak Creek massacre attempted to rebuild a belief that had just been shattered to pieces: love conquers hate. There is one bullet hole in the Oak Creek Gurdwara that was left to remind us of the unity that revealed itself from this pain. Underneath the hole reads a plaque that says “8-5-12” and a small quote; three words that mean more than anything, three words that shatter bigotry and hatred, three words that we as a society need to live by: “We are one.”