$500,000 raised to return Kansas hate crime victim's remains home

A GoFundMe site has raised over $500,000 in a day for the family of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, the Indian man who was shot dead in Kansas in an apparent hate crime on Wednesday (22 February). Two other people were injured in the fatal attack, including Kuchibhotla's friend, Alok Madasani.

A US Navy veteran, 51-year-old Adam Purinton, was charged with premeditated first-degree murder and two counts of attempted premeditated murder. Purinton is said to have shouted "get out of my country" as he opened fire on the former University of Texas student at Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe.

The GoFundMe page was set up on Thursday, to raise funds to support Kuchibhotla's family and for the repatriation of his body. A dedication to the 32-year-old engineer from Hyderabad read: "Srini was the kindest person you would meet, full of love, care and compassion for everyone.

"He never uttered a word of hatred, a simple gossip, or a careless comment. He was brilliant, well mannered and simply an outstanding human being."

Also injured in the attack was Ian Grillot, 24, who attempted to tackle Purinton, and was lauded by visitors of the site who called him a "hero" as well as a "great human being". Grillot's sister Maggie also posted: "My brother wishes he could have done more for your family."

Kuchibhotla was working for US technology company Garmin at the time of his death, who condemned the attack and flew the office flag at half-mast on Friday.

Elsewhere the attack was branded a hate crime, with many linking it to the rhetoric of President Donald Trump and his administration, which has taken a hard line on immigrants.

However, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said it was "absurd" to link the attack to Trump. He said: "Obviously, any loss of life is tragic, but I'm not going to get into, like, to suggest that there's any correlation I think is a bit absurd."

The attack follows claims of a surge in reported hate crime since the election of Trump in November 2016. However, this data, from the Southern Poverty Law Center's #ReportHate initiative and the New York Times, is insufficient to show any long-term trends. In November, the FBI announced that hate crimes against Muslims had risen 67% during 2015.

In January, Trump also signed an executive order banning travel into the US by nationals of seven predominantly Muslim countries, though the order was subsequently blocked by judges. Trump is expected to sign a revised order imminently.