A Sikh-American post-doctoral fellow at New York University was called "Osama" by a teenager, in a fresh incident of racism towards members of the community. Simran Jeet Singh, a post-doctoral fellow at NYU's Center for Religion and Media and a senior religion fellow for advocacy group Sikh Coalition, recalled the encounter in an essay on NBC News. Singh also writes about how he did not remain silent at being called racial slurs and confronted the young black man.
Singh said he was running along the Hudson River in the city on Thursday, heading from his office at NYU to his home. Even though he had headphones in his ears, he could still hear someone shouting at him, "Osama! Osama!" along with another inappropriate expletive. When he turned to see who was yelling, he saw a group of three young teenagers. Singh said he slowly approached the teenager who had shouted at him. As Singh approached him, the teenager said he was joking and apologised.