American Teen Arrested Over Plot to Attack Hindu Temple: Is Anti-Indian Racism on the Rise?

An Illinois teenager reportedly "couldn't wait" to kill Indians before being arrested over a plot to attack a Hindu temple.

A 19-year-old American white supremacist has been arrested on the day US police believe he tried to attack a Hindu shrine.

Illinois State Police say they foiled a possible mass shooting and arrested Alexandros Papourakis, a Taco Bell cashier from the Chicago suburb of Palatine.

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End of List Prosecutors say he told associates he "couldn't wait" to kill the Indian people.

It comes amid growing concern among Indian Americans about hostility toward their community, fueled by bitter political battles over immigration and skilled worker visas.

So, what do we know about the alleged conspiracy, and is anti-Indian racism really on the rise in the US?

Investigators say they believe Papourakis planned to attack the largest Hindu temple in Aurora, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southwest of the Chicago suburb of Palatine, Illinois.

"However, the target location has not been confirmed and remains under investigation," police said.

Papourakis reportedly told colleagues that Sunday would be "a special day."

According to prosecutors, a co-worker told Chicago's ABC7 that investigators called Papourakis Sunday afternoon and said his gun was jammed. He allegedly told his co-worker that he left "super fast" without being seen.

Two colleagues called the police. Officers from neighboring Palatine and Mount Prospect arrested him as he left the home.

"The seriousness of this alleged threat cannot be overstated," said Palatine Police Chief William Nord.

Papourakis faces felony charges of "terroristic threat" and "unlawful possession of a weapon."

On Wednesday, a judge ordered that he be held in jail pending trial.

Prosecutors say Papourakis openly described himself to coworkers as a white supremacist.

He described Indians, Jews, and blacks as "superhumans" and planned to kill as many of them as possible.

In it, he allegedly refers to himself as "a sociopathic, hate-filled white supremacist neo-Nazi who fantasizes about mass murder almost every day."

Prosecutors also said he had mental health issues and lived with his mother, ABC7 reported.

A search of his home turned up an AR-style rifle without a serial number, loaded magazines, a gas canister labeled with a South Asian slur, and items with Nazi symbols.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) does not count crimes against American Indians as a specific category. The most recent acts of crime against Hindus and Sikhs, most of which originate in the United States, are in India.

Anti-Sikh crimes appear to be on the rise Police reported 234 anti-Sikh offenses to the FBI in the 12 months to October, up about 28 percent from 183 in the previous 12 months.

Anti-Hindu crimes have remained low and almost constant over the last two years at 63 or 2-3 cases per month.

However, Hindu temples have been targeted.

According to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, over two nights in late June 2025, an estimated 20 to 30 shots were fired at the Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, Utah, while people were inside. No one was hurt.

Two months later, Illinois Congressman Raja Krishnamurthy condemned the attack and vandalism at a Hindu temple in Santa Clara, California, saying incidents targeting Hindu temples across the United States were "on the rise."

A report by the Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH) shows that the monthly volume of hateful posts about South Asians on X more than tripled between January 2024 and June 2026.

American Indians say they feel it too. A Carnegie Endowment for International Peace survey of 1,000 American Indians, conducted by YouGov between November 2025 and January 2026, found that since the beginning of 2025, one in four had been verbally abused.

9% said they were physically threatened and 4% were physically abused.

Almost one in five said they avoided wearing Indian clothing in public.

However, the survey also found no significant change in the number of people reporting self-reporting since 2020.

That threat is growing, said Devesh Kapur, a professor of South Asian studies at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies and a co-author of the Carnegie survey.

"White supremacist extremism is clearly on the rise," he told Al Jazeera. "Animosity towards Indians has increased, especially among the right-wing MAGA, in Trump's second term."

Most of the hostilities stemmed from immigration disputes, researchers say. Trump campaigned on immigration before the 2024 presidential election and, since returning to the White House in January 2025, has instituted sweeping restrictions on immigration — including "military"-style federal raids on immigrant communities that have killed some activists.

Indians receive more than 70 percent of H-1B visas, which US employers use to bring skilled foreign workers to the country. A surge of online hate has followed political controversy over the program.

In July 2025, President Donald Trump criticized US technology companies for outsourcing jobs to India. A few days later, in the midst of a trade dispute, he wrote on Truth Social that India and Russia could "destroy their dead economies together." In September of that year, he set a cap of $100,000 for some new H-1B petitions. US courts are still deciding whether the fee is legal and have currently blocked the payment requirement.

A Carnegie poll found that two-thirds of American Indians opposed the spending.

Figures close to Trump have also shown anti-India attitudes. In September 2024, far-right activist Laura Loomer, once a close Trump ally, wrote that the White House would stink if former vice president Kamala Harris won the presidency. The White House of then US President Joe Biden called these comments "abhorrent".