California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Yuba City Police Chief Brian Baker said the 17 felony arrests was a result of a multi-agency investigation of “rival criminal syndicates” operating throughout Northern California. The groups are alleged to be responsible for numerous violent crimes and shootings, including five attempted murders.
They were also allegedly involved in a mass shooting at a Stockton Gurdwara on August 27, 2022, and a shooting at a Sacramento Gurdwara on March 23, 2023, officials revealed, adding that during the investigation, law enforcement was able to prevent two additional shootings from occurring.
Officials said the violence began in 2018 at the annual Sikh Parade in Yuba City, which has one of the highest concentration of Sikhs in the US, and which has in the past elected a Sikh mayor and other Sikh officials to the local administration. The violence soon escalated to frequent shootings, including one at a wedding party in 2021.
The warfare attracted attention of the local Narcotic and Gang Enforcement Task Force, which launched an investigation with assistance from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and various other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, officials said, eventually leading to the crackdown. The joint law enforcement effort, which culminated over the weekend in a large-scale operation with agents executing search warrants at 20 locations, also resulted in the seizure of 41 firearms, officials said.
“Today, California is safer thanks to swift action by DOJ agents and our law enforcement partners in Sutter County. No family should ever have to worry about drive-by shootings or other forms of gun violence in the neighborhoods where their children live and play. As a result of this joint law enforcement effort, we’re taking guns off the street and putting suspected gang members and their associates behind bars. ” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said.
Clashes between rival Sikh groups have been frequent across the length of the Pacific Coast, including going up to Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada, where the first Sikh migrants arrived more than 100 years ago. Many Sikh youth of the third and fourth generation have little ties to India, but have gotten involved in factional fights in gurdwaras, some of which espouse separatist politics.