Posted Thursday, March 14, 2013 --- 6:00 p.m.
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- A Green Bay man is charged with a hate crime for allegedly setting fire at a convenience store owned by a Sikh American.
Fifty-three-year-old James Parrish faces charges of arson with a hate crime modification, first-degree recklessly endangering safety and carrying a concealed weapon.
Police arrested Parrish March 5 after he reportedly walked into the Dollar Land store, dumped a liquid on the register and set it on fire after a store employee turned him down for a date.
The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund praised authorities for treating the arson as a hate crime.
Last August, a white supremacist fatally shot six worshippers at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek before killing himself.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports Parrish's next court date is April 5.
Copyright Associated Press: 2013
