Approximately three million people have signed a petition supporting Harjinder Singh, an undocumented truck driver accused of causing the deaths of three Americans on a Florida highway.
The incident garnered widespread attention after video surfaced showing Singh attempting a U-turn on the Florida Turnpike while operating an 18-wheeler, resulting in a collision with a minivan that killed three passengers.
Singh faces multiple charges, including three counts of vehicular homicide and three counts of manslaughter, according to prison records. Additionally, he has been placed under immigration holds.
A petition has surfaced on Change.org advocating for drivers in similar situations, featuring unusual requests and some curious messages of support.
Some of the comments reflect a belief that, while Singh made a grave error, it was still an accident. One comment reads, “I know it was an accident. He made a terrible mistake.”
Reports from India Times indicate that Singh struggled with the English proficiency test, managing to answer only two out of twelve questions correctly, and was unable to identify one or more road signs.
The petition argues that, despite his undocumented status, Singh deserves a lenient sentence due to the absence of “criminal intent or history.” Interestingly, the document overlooks his poor performance in the driving test after the crash.
The petition proposes various alternatives to imprisonment, advocating for “proportional and reasonable statements” or options like “restorative justice, counseling, and community service.”
Notably, many comments supporting Singh seem to echo one another, which raises some eyebrows. In fact, some comments are almost identical.
The petition’s creator, Manisha Kaushal, has highlighted several comments on the page, and video testimonials from supporters have also emerged, with one user stating: “I support Harjinder Singh. He worked hard to support his family like many of us. One wrong decision changed everything. A 45-year prison sentence is not justice.”
However, some supporters have made racially charged comments, expressing sentiments like “shame of your white injustice” and remarks about “saving our brothers.”
Blaze News attempted to reach out to the authors of the petition for clarity on their proposals for alternative measures and how they might communicate Singh’s immigration status and English proficiency, but did not receive a response.
Additionally, the Department of Transportation noted that around 1,500 drivers have been removed from the roads since June due to illiteracy.
Homeland Security notes that Singh’s job application was initially rejected in 2020 during the Trump administration but was later approved in 2021 under Biden.
Singh had received a commercial driver’s license in both California and Washington.
