Man charged with attempted murder of Sikh is "incompetent to stand trial"

A Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge ruled that Everett Thompson, who is charged with attempted murder with a hate crime enhancement, is incompetent to stand trial at this time.Prosecutor Peter Waite said that Thompson, who was 20 when he stabbed a Sikh neighbor in the neck, will return to Judge Jerome E. Brock's court April 6 for a placement hearing. Waite expects Thompson, a Santa Clara resident, to be sent to a state mental hospital. Once hospital staff determine Thompson has regained competency, Waite said, the district attorney's office will prosecute him. Waite added that Thompson could again challenge his competency to stand trial, meaning the court would again make the determination."It's a decision I disagreed with because I felt Mr. Thompson is competent to stand trial," Waite said. "But that's not my decision to make."Thompson's attorney, Carlyle Glenfield Varlack Jr., called the decision "the correct thing to do"On July 30, 40-year-old Iqubal Singh, was standing in his carport with his 2-year-old granddaughter at 10:50 a.m. waiting for other family members before leaving for worship services. Thompson who was Singh's neighbor, approached him and in front of the granddaughter and in plain view stabbed him in the neck. Thompson alleged he believed Singh was a member of the Taliban. Not only was Singh not a member of the Taliban, he was a member of an entirely different faith to Islam. As a practising Sikh, it was compulsory for him to keep his hair unshorn and in a turban. This hate crime sent shockwaves through the Sikh community which was targeted with hate crimes across the western world in the aftermath of 9/11 purely due ignorance in wider Society of their appearance and their faith.