A teenager was sentenced to three to nine years in prison on Friday for burning down a gurudwara in anger over the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. Joshua Centrone, 18, is the second of four teenagers to plead guilty in connection with the November 18 fire at Gobind Sadan USA Temple in Palermo, 48 km North of Syracuse. The teenagers told authorities they set fire to the Temple because they thought it was called ‘go bin Laden’. Numerous hate crimes have been committed against Sikhs since September 11. Sikhs have been mistaken for Arabs or Muslims because of their turbans and beards. Leaders of the gurudwara asked Judge Walter Hafner to show mercy in sentencing. ‘‘As Jesus said, ‘father forgive them, for they know not what they do,’ we in the Sikh tradition offer forgiveness to these children, in hope that a positive message will continue to rise out of this crime of hatred: that with God’s grace, love and understanding, we can overcome the ignorance that fuels the conflicts that plague our world,’’ Ralph Singh said.
