Krishna temple in Utah attacked thrice, hate crime alleged

A Hindu temple in Utah has been repeatedly shot at over several nights in June. A total of around 20–30 gunshots were fired at the Shri Shri Radha Krishna Temple in Utah's city, located just off Main Street in Spanish Fork, United States. The attack over the last weekend of June was the third on the temple that month, which its management claims to be a hate crime.

The Utah County Sheriff's office has termed these attacks "acts of vandalism". While the ISKCON temple authorities have called the attacks a "hate crime". "Over the weekend, our office was made aware of several acts of vandalism directed towards the Krishna Temple that is located off of 8500 South here in Utah County. UCSO Deputies responded to the Temple and recovered various items of evidence, including casings from the rounds fired at the Temple," it said in a statement released along with pictures of the shooting on Instagram.

The President of the temple, Vai Warden, said the attacks could have been an outcome of "hate". The co-founder of the temple, Vaibhavi Devi, said that over the past several days, 20–30 bullets were fired at the temple building and the surrounding property.

The videos and photos show bullet holes in the temple's walls. The casings of the rounds were also discovered outside the Shri Shri Radha Krishna Temple, reported Fox13, the Utah arm of the Fox News network. The temple was built over two decades ago in the early 90s. The 10,000-square-foot temple sits on a 15-acre campus with peacocks, llamas, and cows in the temple area, the report added.

The security video shows a car driving up to the temple's front gate and someone shooting at the building. The sheriff's office Investigations Division is investigating the evidence found at the temple and is asking anyone with information on vandalism to contact them. A $1,000 reward has been announced for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.