A Sikh grandfather sacrificed his own life by using a blunt ceremonial knife to fight off a neo-Nazi gunman in Wisconsin, saving dozens of women, children and other worshippers from being shot.
A Sikh grandfather sacrificed his own life by using a blunt ceremonial knife to fight off a neo-Nazi gunman in Wisconsin, saving dozens of women, children and other worshippers from being shot.
Sadwant Singh Kaleka, 65, the head of the Oak Creek temple was shot dead by Wade Michael Page, a 40-year-old white supremacist, but his heroism has been praised for giving vital time for other people in the temple to flee or hide.
Page killed six people before being shot by armed police. The number could have been far higher if it were not for Mr Kaleka.
Amardeep Singh Kaleka, his son, said that FBI agents had embraced him after the attack, shook his hand and said, "Your dad's a hero."
"Whatever time he spent in that struggle gave the women time to get cover," Mr Kaleka said.
"He was a hero through and through. There couldn't have been a better place for him to lay to rest."
One of the women who had time to flee was Amardeep Singh Kaleka's mother, who called the police from her mobile phone while hiding from the gunman in a cupboard.
Page, a former army veteran who sang in a white supremacist rock band, showed signs of his racist beliefs during his time in the military, referring to non-whites as "dirt people", according to Fred Allen Lucas, who served with him.
Mr Allen told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Page spoke of the need for securing a homeland for white people.
"It didn't matter if they were black, Indian, Native American, Latin - he hated them all," he said.
Mr Lucas said Page was covered with tattoos, including one that made a reference to the "14 words" - a phrase used by white supremacists: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children."
"He criticised me for my attraction to Latina women," Mr Lucas said. "He'd call me a race traitor. He said I should change my ways because I was a blond-haired, blue-eyed white guy, and I shouldn't be wasting myself on that."
Page's stepmother Laura Page said that her son had not always been a racist. "Where he changed and where this came from, we have no idea," she said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}