A Sikh truck driver survived a harrowing attack in which he was beaten and then stabbed 17 times at a Wyoming highway rest stop on Sunday, according to news reports. The alleged attacker, Andrew Kris Bzdak, reportedly fled the scene before Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers arrested him, the Sacramento Bee reported. Bzdak has been charged with attempted first-degree murder. As of Friday, he was being held at the Sweetwater County Detention Center on $1 million bail, according to an inmate list. “I don’t know why this happened,” the truck driver, who was identified only by his last name Singh for security reasons, told NPR. His attorney could not immediately be reached for comment. “I thought my last moment had come,” the driver told the Bee. The driver praised a family of the Good Samaritan, who attempted to chase the attacker and also brought towels to Singh as blood seeped from his wounds, the Bee reported. The motive for the attack remains unknown, said Jeff Sheaman, a public information officer for the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office. from the Homeland Security post depicting a Sikh driver. In a since-deleted At the bottom of the image, it also said; “Get off our roads, you don’t know how to drive, Mr. Singh.” DHS officials responded to criticism that the post was xenophobic, saying it was a direct reference to a truck driver of Indian descent who was accused of making an illegal turn before crashing an 18-wheeler into a minivan, killing its occupants. Matters After Newsletter Promo Illinois Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi said in a Thursday social media post that he was praying for the trucker’s recovery. “This comes amid growing hatred against Sikh and South Asian Americans, and even Trump’s Department of Homeland Security recently published a racist caricature of a Sikh truck driver,” Krishnamoorthi wrote. “Those who spread this hate, including officials in our own federal government, must stop. Those who turn it into violence must be held accountable. And all of us must unite against both.” In response to a request for comment on the Wyoming attack, DHS told NPR: “Any attempt to blame DHS for an unrelated attack is RECKLESS and FALSE.”
