Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff said at a press conference that the unnamed person, the only suspect so far, has not been arrested. Investigators are seeking video and photos from the public to help them learn what caused Paul Kessler, 69, to fall and hit his head during Sunday protests in Thousand Oaks, about 40 miles (65 km) west of Los Angeles.

“What exactly transpired prior to Mr. Kessler falling backward isn’t crystal clear right now,” Fryhoff said.

Kessler’s death has been ruled a homicide by medical examiners, with the cause of death listed as blunt force trauma to his head. Officials emphasized that a death being ruled a homicide means that another person was involved, but does not indicate if anything criminal took place.

Authorities have not ruled out that other people were involved.

Kessler was conscious when taken to the hospital and spoke with investigators while there, the sheriff said. He declined to say what Kessler told officers.

Witnesses have provided conflicting accounts about who was the aggressor in the incident, the sheriff said. The medical examiners office said Kessler had non-lethal injuries to the left side of his face, which could indicate he was hit before falling, but that it was not certain that was the case.

U.S. officials and civil rights groups have warned of increased threats against Jews, Muslims and Arab Americans following the Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in which Israel says 1,400 were killed and more than 240 taken hostage, and the ensuing Israeli bombardment of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, where Palestinian health authorities say more than 10,000 people have been killed.

Fryhoff said his deputies have increased patrols around mosques and synagogues because of Kessler’s death.

Last month, an Illinois man was charged with hate crimes for stabbing a 6-year-old Muslim boy to death and wounding his mother in an attack that officials said targeted them for their religion in a response to the war.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles identified the victim at Sunday’s protest as a Jewish man and said the incident was the fourth act of antisemitic violence in the Los Angeles area this year, and the second since Oct. 7.

The dual protests in Thousand Oaks on Sunday drew about 100 people from each side, Fryhoff said, and no other incidents were reported. Law enforcement occasionally drove by the scene of the protest prior to Kessler’s fall and saw nothing that alarmed them, he added.

Rabbi Noah Farkas, the leader of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, citing conversations with local government officials, earlier said a pro-Palestinian protester had struck the victim on the head with a megaphone. Fryhoff said he could not confirm that took place, but that it was possible.

The Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil rights group, expressed grief on Monday over what it called a “tragic and shocking loss,” while also asking people to “refrain from jumping to conclusions” or “sensationalizing such a tragedy for political gains.”

A planned $3 billion semiconductor facility in India by chip consortium ISMC that counted Israeli chipmaker Tower as a tech partner has been stalled due to the company’s ongoing takeover by Intel, three people with direct knowledge of the strategy said.

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A second mega $19.5 billion plan to build chips locally by a joint venture between India’s Vedanta and Taiwan’s Foxconn is also proceeding slowly as their talks to rope in European chipmaker STMicroelectronics (STMPA.PA) as a partner are deadlocked, a fourth source with direct knowledge said.

Modi has made chipmaking a top priority for India’s economic strategy as he wants to “usher in a new era in electronics manufacturing” by luring global companies.

India, which expects its semiconductor market to be worth $63 billion by 2026, last year received three applications to set up plants under the incentive scheme. They were from the Vedanta-Foxconn JV; a global consortium ISMC which counts Tower Semiconductor (TSEM.TA) as a tech partner; and from Singapore-based IGSS Ventures.

The Vedanta JV plant is to come up in Modi’s home state of Gujarat, while ISMC and IGSS each committed $3 billion for plants in two separate southern states.

The three sources said ISMC’s $3 billion chipmaking facility plans are currently on hold as Tower could not proceed to sign binding agreements as things remain under review after Intel acquired it for $5.4 billion last year. The deal is pending regulatory approvals.

Talking about India’s semiconductor ambitions, India’s deputy IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar told Reuters in a May 19 interview ISMC “could not proceed” due to Intel acquiring Tower, and IGSS “wanted to re-submit (the application)” for incentives. The “two of them had to drop out,” he said, without elaborating.

Tower is likely to reevaluate taking part in the venture based on how its deal talks with Intel pan out, two of the sources said.

ISMC consortium partners Next Orbit Ventures did not respond to a request for comment. Tower and Intel declined to comment. Singapore-based IGSS and India’s federal IT ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

Setback For Vedanta

Most of the world’s chip output is limited to a few countries like Taiwan, and India is a late entrant. Amid much fanfare, in September, the Vedanta-Foxconn JV announced its chipmaking plans in Gujarat. Modi called the $19.5 billion plan “an important step” in boosting India’s chipmaking ambitions.

But things have not gone smoothly as the JV tries to hunt for a tech partner. The fourth source said Vedanta-Foxconn had got on board STMicroelectronics for licensing technology, but India’s government had conveyed it wants STMicro to have “more skin in the game” – like a stake in the partnership.

STMicro is not keen on that and the talks remain in limbo, the source added. “From STM’s perspective, that proposal doesn’t make sense because they want India market to first be more mature,” said the person.

Deputy IT minister Chandrasekhar told Reuters during the May 19 interview the Vedanta-Foxconn JV was “struggling currently to tie up with a technology partner.”

In a statement, Vedanta-Foxconn JV CEO, David Reed, said they have an agreement with a technology partner to transfer technology with licenses, but declined to comment further.

In a move seen to revive investor interest, India’s IT ministry on Wednesday said the country will start re-inviting applications for chipmaking incentives. This time the companies can apply until December next year, as opposed to the initial phase where there was only a 45 day window.

“It is expected that some of current applicants will reapply and new fresh investors will also apply,” Minister Chandrasekhar said on Twitter.

Fresno (AP) — For decades, worshipping in temples, Ram Asra has sung spiritual songs known as kirtans.

He did so on a recent Sunday at the Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha in Fresno, California, seated cross-legged on a dais in the temple’s prayer hall playing a harmonium. Devotees closed their eyes and swayed to the calming melody.

But not all of Asra’s experiences in sacred spaces have been so sublime. He is a member of the former untouchable caste in India, and recounted a time when he was pulled aside at another U.S. temple and told not to enter the kitchen.

“I felt so disrespected,” he said.

Asra feels much more secure at the Fresno Ravidassia temple. Congregants follow Guru Ravidass, a 14th century Indian teacher who also belonged to the former untouchable caste whose members are also known as Dalit, which means “broken” in Hindi.

Several congregants, who say equality is at the heart of their faith, are now championing a bill which aims to outlaw caste discrimination in California. Caste is a division of people based on birth and descent.

If the legislation passes, California will become the first state to add caste to its nondiscrimination laws. In February, Seattle became the first U.S. city to pass a similar law.

There are about 20,000 members of the Ravidassia community in California’s Central Valley — a vast majority of them with roots in Punjab in northwestern India. There are five Ravidassia temples in California alone — in Fresno, Pittsburg, Rio Linda, Selma and Yuba City — with a sixth under construction in Union City.

Signs supporting the bill grace the walls of the Fresno temple. Annihilating caste is intrinsic to the Ravidassia ethos, said Amar Daroch, president of the Fresno temple. He said Guru Ravidass envisioned a classless, casteless utopia he called “Begampura,” which means “a land without sorrow” in Hindi.

“Our goal is to create Begampura right here,” he said.

The legislation has been met with strong opposition from groups who say it will lead to discrimination against Hindu Americans and those of Indian descent. Several Dalits have also spoken against it, saying they do not wish to be burdened with a caste identity that they feel is irrelevant in this country.

But many in the Ravidassia community believe this law would bring attention to a problem they say does affect their lives.

In California, members of the Ravidassia community come from Hindu, Indigenous and Sikh backgrounds. Their temples have the appearance and feel of a Sikh gurdwara, with the sacred text, the Guru Granth Sahib, installed as the focal point in the main prayer hall. The text includes 40 verses of Guru Ravidass, in addition to other spiritual leaders.

Ravidassia religious practices vary from Sikhism. However, many in the community do identify themselves as Sikh and have much in common with the Sikh community including dress, food, language and other customs.

The principle of equality also forms the basis of Sikh theology, said Opinderjit Kaur Takhar, associate professor of Sikh Studies at the University of Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom, a city that has a sizeable Punjabi population including a large Ravidassia community. Takhar said the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India, the most significant shrine in Sikhism, was designed with four doors, sending the message that “everyone from all walks of life, all corners of the world and all castes are welcome to come in and be together.”

She mentioned the importance of a post-worship community meal known as langar, saying its purpose “is to sit down as equals and share food with everyone regardless of caste, which used to be taboo.”

Vinod Kumar Chumber, chairman of the Shri Guru Ravidass Sabha in Union City, California, said those teachings on equality have not translated into reality in the U.S. and beyond. In Punjab, Chumber said each village has gurdwaras led by dominant-caste members and those run by Dalits.

“Things are improving, but people are still not being treated equally,” he said, adding that members of his community are rarely found in leadership positions at mainstream U.S. Sikh temples. “We figured it was best for us to have our own places of worship where we can freely practice our customs and celebrate our festivals.”

Members of the Fresno Ravidassia community say fighting for equality is part of their history and their spiritual DNA, which has motivated them to come forward with their stories despite the potential repercussions of being exposed to the larger community as “lower-caste.” Community members say they still experience discriminatory treatment from people who share otherwise share everything from culture and food to language and national origin.

Harbhans Singh said his friend opened a grocery store in a largely South Asian neighborhood in Central California that did well in the beginning, but “his business flopped” once customers learned his caste.

“He had to shut down his business,” he said. “How can this still happen in the United States?”

Harblas Singh, who worked at a poultry plant near Fresno, said his Punjabi colleagues refused to sit with him at lunch after learning he was Dalit.

“I came to this country hoping that I can break away from the chains of caste,” he said. “But it seems as if we cannot accomplish that as human beings. We need the law to do that for us.”

Rajinder Ganger, who used to run a trucking company in Selma, said one of his upper-caste drivers quit after learning Ganger’s caste identity.

“He said his relatives were berating him for working with me,” he said.

Rajinder Kumar, whose family operates a business in Bakersfield, said the answer to caste bias is education and an enforceable anti-discrimination law that names caste as a protected category. He says categories such as “ethnicity” or “national origin” will still not cover the type of discrimination he and the others in the Ravidassia community frequently face.

“Whether you are a cashier, a business owner, a professor, or a doctor — in 2023 — you are still an untouchable,” he said. “When does that stop? How much money do you have to make? How many degrees do you have to get to make it stop?”

After the recent Sunday worship at the Fresno temple, Kumar took the microphone in the prayer hall, urging members to speak up for the caste bill. Footage of community members testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee looped on a screen behind him.

During the April hearing, elderly community members who couldn’t speak English showed up, and made their views known to the committee with a simple “vote yes.” Kumar said such courage is no longer an option but an imperative for the community.

“There is no need to hide,” Kumar said. “We have hundreds of stories to share. We all need to come forward and make our voices heard.”

The caste bill has given members of the larger Sikh community an opportunity to show solidarity with the Ravidassia community and to uphold the tenets of their faith, said Kashmir Singh Shahi with the Gurdwara Sahib in Fremont, a Sikh congregation. He said his temple is diverse and free from discrimination and stereotyping.

“That’s the way it should be,” he said, adding that while caste discrimination may be “less prevalent” in the United States, some still suffer because of it and that alone justifies the need for such a law.

Gurbachan Singh, a community elder in Fresno who has founded several Ravidass temples, said he would like to see people start having those conversations, challenging as they may be.

“If we don’t go to the other gurdwaras, talk to them and speak the truth, that’s on us,” he said. “I hope to see a day when all our temples stand together on the foundation of truth.”

Sutter County District Attorney Jennifer Dupré said the two syndicates were responsible for multiple shootings where 11 people were shot, including five people at a Sikh temple in Stockton last year and two more victims at a temple in Sacramento last month.

None of the victims died. Dupré said all of the men arrested are part of California’s Sikh community and were members of one of two rival groups whose feud was fueled by intense personal connections.

“This started out as one group, and one faction broke off, and since then they have been rivals trying to outdo each other. Mainly they show up places and try to shoot each other,” Dupré said, comparing it to the U.S. Civil War “where brothers were fighting against brothers.”

Dupré said the arrests are not related to the murders last year of a Sikh family in the San Joaquin Valley, which included the killings of an 8-month-old baby, the baby’s parents and an uncle.

Dupré said the violence began in 2018 at the annual Sikh Parade in Yuba City, one of the largest South Asian festivals held outside of the Indian subcontinent. There, Dupré said, a man was beaten so hard with a sword that it broke. The violence soon escalated to shootings, including one at a wedding party in 2021.

The rash of violence attracted the attention of the Yuba-Sutter Narcotic and Gang Enforcement Task Force, which launched an investigation with assistance from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and various other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

The investigation intensified in March, when authorities learned of potential violence at a Sikh parade in Sacramento. Dupré said police stopped two cars before they reached the parade, arresting seven people and seizing four handguns and two other guns with large capacity magazines.

A shooting still happened at the parade, injuring two people, but Dupré said a “mass casualty incident” was prevented.

“If those weapons had gotten into the parade, it could have been a bloodbath,” Dupré said.

Altogether, Dupré said police seized 41 guns during the investigation, including a weapon described as a “machine gun.”

Authorities arrested 17 people, including Karandeep Singh, Pardeep Singh, Pavittar Singh, Husandeep Singh, Sahajpreet Singh, Harkirat Singh, Tirath Ram, Dharamvir Singh, Jobanjit Singh, Gurvinder Singh, Nitish Kaushal, Gurminder Singh Kang, Devender Singh, Karambir Gill, Rajeev Ranjan, Jobanpreet Singh and Singh Dhesi.

Dupré said five other people — Amandeep Singh, Harmandeep Singh, Gursharn Singh, Grucharan Singh and Jaskaran Singh — have not yet been arrested.

Dupré said the men have not had a court appearances yet. It’s not clear if they have attorneys yet who can speak on their behalf.

Yuba City, a city of nearly 70,000 people along the Feather River just north of Sacramento, has a large Sikh community. Locals often refer to the area as “mini Punjab,” named after the Indian state where many Sikhs live. Each November, tens of thousands of people travel to the city for Nagar Kirtan, one of the largest Sikh gatherings in the U.S.

Sikhs also have a large presence throughout California’s Central Valley. The Sacramento County Assistant Sheriff said seven of the shootings occurred in Sacramento County within the past year.

“The investigation in this particular case and the charges that have been brought forth does not in any way reflect or represent the vibrant Sikh community that are such an important and vital part of the greater community in this region,” Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho said.