Sikh Temple of Wisconsin

The Sikh Temple of Wisconsin is the gurdwara at 7512 South Howell Avenue in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, where a white supremacist attacked worshippers on 5 August 2012. It began in 1997, when Satwant Singh Kaleka and other community members pooled their savings to start it. Kaleka led it as president until the day he was killed, and the State of Wisconsin calls him its founding president.

The attack: The worshippers were preparing langar and children's classes were about to begin when the gunman opened fire. Six people were killed: Satwant Singh Kaleka, Prakash Singh, a granthi who had served there about seven years, Paramjit Kaur Saini, Sita Singh, Ranjit Singh and Suveg Singh Khattra. Baba Punjab Singh, shot in the head and left partly paralysed, died on 2 March 2020 and his death was ruled a homicide, so the Governor's proclamations name seven lives lost. Lieutenant Brian Murphy and Officer Savan Lenda are honoured for preventing further loss of life.

What changed:

• The Oak Creek police chief pointed out that the FBI's hate crime form had no anti-Sikh category.
• The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings in September 2012. In June 2013 the FBI's Advisory Policy Board recommended adding anti-Sikh and other religious categories, and the first anti-Sikh figures appeared in the 2015 report. The FBI counted 89 anti-Sikh hate crimes in 2020.
• The Governor of Wisconsin proclaims 5 August each year. The 2025 proclamation, signed 23 July 2025, marked the 13th anniversary.
• April 2019: Governor Tony Evers presented a plaque at the temple making Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month official in Wisconsin. The congregation was then put at 1,700 to 2,000 members, up from about 1,000 in 2012.

Today: NPR visited in October 2024. Board chairman Kulwant Dhaliwal, a retired doctor who came from India in 1968, told it “since this tragedy happened, we're very careful where we go”. Sunday langar is open to anyone, with a rough 700 to 800 people attending. A bullet hole remains in the door frame of the main hall, and visitors now pass security cameras and a hired guard. About 80 per cent of members are immigrants.