Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, with 104 other members of Congress, sent a letter on October 20 to FBI Director Kash Patel demanding a federal hate‑crime investigation into the October 11 attempted mass shooting at the Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Hindu temple in Aurora, Illinois.
The letter, signed by every Indian‑American member of Congress and all Illinois House Democrats, calls for the FBI to confirm whether the case is being examined for racial, ethnic, or religious bias and to coordinate with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
The plot was uncovered when 19‑year‑old Alexandros Paporakis, a Palatine resident, drove to the temple with a rifle that allegedly failed to fire, and fled after police discovered his weapon, 200 rounds of ammunition, body armour and white‑supremacist imagery.
Prosecutors say Paporakis authored an eight‑page manifesto that glorified white supremacy and called for violence against Indian‑descent people, and that the FBI’s Chicago field office arrested him on the same day.
The lawmakers also raise alarm about the surge of online hostility, citing a Center for the Study of Organized Hate report that recorded 542,000 anti‑South‑Asian posts on X between January 2025 and June 2026, a 240 percent jump from January 2024.
The letter asks the FBI to explain how it differentiates protected expression from credible threats, what mechanisms exist to share actionable threat information with state and local law enforcement, and whether it has sufficient resources to protect houses of worship.
The FBI is expected to respond within 30 days, clarifying its plans for a hate‑crime prosecution and coordination with the DOJ.