Sikh Trucker Stabbed 17 Times at Wyoming Rest Stop, Fueling Hate-Crime Fears
SWEETWATER COUNTY, Wyo. — A Sikh truck driver was stabbed 17 times early Sunday at an Interstate 80 rest stop in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, in what authorities are treating as an unprovoked attack, reigniting fears among Sikh and South Asian truckers about violence fueled by anti-immigrant and anti-South Asian rhetoric.
The victim, identified by his attorney only as Singh, was airlifted to Wyoming Medical Center in Casper and continues to recover, according to the Jakara Movement, a California-based advocacy group that serves Punjabi Sikhs and is representing him.
According to the Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office and an arrest warrant, Singh had stopped at the rest area when he was followed into the men's bathroom by Andrew Bzdak. Inside, Bzdak allegedly attacked him from behind with a knife, stabbing him 17 times, including twice in the neck and twice in the chest, the records say.
After the attack, Singh ran out of the bathroom and was later seen in video lying on the ground in the parking lot, CNN affiliate KOVR reported. Records show he called emergency services and said he had been stabbed multiple times. Responding officers found large amounts of blood inside the men's room, in the bathroom lobby, outside the building and near a parked semi-truck.
A family that heard Singh's screams inside the rest stop bathroom followed Bzdak eastbound on I-80 and called police, officials said. The neighboring Carbon County Sheriff's Office later detained Bzdak after he allegedly fled the scene in his own truck, according to court records.
Bzdak, 44, has been charged with one count of attempted first-degree murder, court records show. He is being held on $1 million bond at the Sweetwater County Detention Center. A preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 24 in circuit court. California court records show a criminal history dating back to 2004, including convictions for assault with a deadly weapon, drunk driving and vandalism. CNN has reached out to the state public defender's office, which is representing Bzdak, and the Sweetwater County Attorney's Office for comment.
Officials have not determined a motive, and it is unclear whether the incident is being investigated as a hate crime. The county attorney's office said Bzdak is White. Jasjit Singh, director of legal services at the Jakara Movement, called for a thorough investigation into "any potential hate-crime or civil-rights dimension of this attack."
Concerns over rhetoric and safety
The case has alarmed Asian American advocates, who warn that inflammatory public rhetoric is putting South Asian and Sikh truck drivers at greater risk. Some advocates pointed to recent social media posts by the Department of Homeland Security, including one with an AI-generated graphic of a South Asian man and a tagline that said, "Get off our roads, you don't know how to drive Mr. Singh." DHS later deleted the post.
In a statement to CNN about Sunday's stabbing, a DHS spokesperson said any attempt to blame the agency "for an unrelated attack is RECKLESS and FALSE. We will not speculate on motives."
The North American Punjabi Trucking Association, an advocacy nonprofit, called the DHS post "disgraceful, disrespectful, and deeply troubling." The group acknowledged concerns raised by DHS about fraud involving commercial driver's licenses, unqualified drivers and English language proficiency, but said the post went far beyond enforcement. "Using the name 'Mr. Singh,' portraying a South Asian man as someone who 'doesn't know how to drive,' and pairing that imagery with 'America for Americans' sends a message far beyond enforcement," the association said in a social media post. "It risks turning a legitimate safety issue into a stereotype aimed at Punjabi, Sikh, South Asian, and immigrant truck drivers."
About one in five U.S. truck drivers are Sikh, according to the North American Punjabi Trucking Association, though there are no official estimates, The Associated Press reported.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat who is Indian American, said Thursday that the stabbing came amid "rising hatred targeting Sikh and South Asian Americans," including from DHS. "Those who turn it into violence must be held accountable," Krishnamoorthi said in a social media post. "And all of us need to stand together against both. America must be better than this."
For Sikh truckers, the attack has renewed a broader sense of vulnerability. Sikh men are often visibly identifiable by their turbans and beards, and advocates say that visibility has long made the community a target for bias, harassment and mistaken-identity attacks. In trucking, where Sikh and Punjabi drivers are a significant part of the workforce, those concerns are especially acute on long routes that can leave drivers isolated at rest stops and truck plazas.
CNN's Laura Sharman contributed to this report.
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