Sikh truck driver stabbed 17 times in US days after controversial DHS ‘Transformer’ post

The attack has left members of the local community concerned.

The driver, who identified himself only by his surname, Singh, said the incident took place earlier this week.

Speaking to NPR from his hospital room, he said, “I don’t know why they attacked me.”

Singh said the incident took place on Sunday when he was travelling to Pennsylvania and had stopped at a rest area in southern Wyoming to use the bathroom.

He said he sensed that someone was following him when he entered the washroom.

Also Read: ‘America for Americans’: DHS removes ‘Mr Singh’ ad after Sikh community outrage

According to Singh, the man suddenly began beating him before pulling out a knife and stabbing him multiple times.

Singh said the attacker fled immediately after the assault.

He said he managed to walk out of the washroom but collapsed on the pavement.

A Hispanic family who was at the rest area came to his aid, Singh said.

“They gave me the second life,” he told NPR.

As of Wednesday night, Singh remained hospitalised with multiple lacerations and injuries to his chest and ribs, he told NPR.

Local law enforcement have arrested Andrew Kris Bzdak, 45, and charged him with attempted first-degree murder, according to charging documents obtained by NPR.

The motive for the attack remains unknown.

The incident occurred just days after the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted an AI-generated, Transformers-style graphic featuring a Sikh man named “Singh” as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration and immigrant truck drivers in the country.

Urging people to self-deport, the poster carried the message: “America for Americans. Get off our roads; you don't know how to drive, Mr Singh.”

The movie-style poster featured a Transformer bearing a DHS insignia facing a Sikh man wearing a head covering.

The post was removed from social media after it faced severe backlash from advocacy groups and politicians.

Reactions to the attack on Singh

Jasjit Singh, an attorney and director of legal services at the Jakara Movement, a California-based organisation that serves the Punjabi Sikh community and has been providing support to the victim, told NPR that authorities had not established a motive for the attack.

“The Sheriff's Office has said there is no known motive at this time, but we cannot separate this incident from the climate in which it happened,” he said.

“When our own federal government uses a Sikh name and image to tell people like us that they do not belong on America's roads, our community has every reason to be concerned about the environment that kind of rhetoric creates,” he added.

Raja Krishnamoorthi, the Indian-origin US Congressman and a member of the Democratic Party, also condemned the attack in a post on X.

“I’m horrified by the brutal attack on a Sikh truck driver who was stabbed 17 times at a Wyoming rest stop,” he wrote.

Krishnamoorthi said the attack occurred amid what he described as rising hatred targeting Sikh and South Asian Americans.

“Those spreading this hate, including officials in our own federal government, need to stop. Those who turn it into violence must be held accountable. And all of us need to stand together against both. America must be better than this. I’m praying for Mr. Singh’s full recovery and grateful to the family whose quick action helped save his life,” he said.