An alleged plan to carry out a mass shooting at a Hindu temple in suburban Chicago has drawn attention to a sharp rise in anti-South Asian and anti-Hindu hostility in the United States. Researchers say rhetoric that once circulated mainly on fringe online spaces has spread to mainstream platforms and is increasingly connected to real-world threats and violence.
Police in Palatine, Illinois, said 19-year-old Alexandros Paporakis tried to attack the Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple in Aurora on Oct. 11. The alleged attack was stopped when his gun jammed, according to police. Paporakis has been charged with making a terrorist threat and unlawfully possessing a rifle, both felonies.
Court documents describe a written account of the alleged plot containing racial slurs against people of Indian ancestry, Jews and African Americans. Police said a search of Paporakis’ apartment uncovered a rifle, ammunition, body armor, a gas can and items bearing Nazi symbols and anti-Indian slurs. The alleged attack coincided with the start of a major Hindu festival, and U.S. Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat, was among those at the temple with his family. He has called for the FBI to investigate the case as a federal hate crime.
Researchers Rohit Chopra of Santa Clara University and Prasiddha Sudhakar, a board member of the Network Contagion Research Institute, say anti-Indian rhetoric has evolved from degrading online posts into conspiracy theories. One such false narrative, described by Sudhakar, claims that a “Brahmin Organized Government” secretly controls institutions. She said it echoes antisemitic conspiracy theories, while focusing more on immigration and jobs.
The researchers traced early versions of this rhetoric to fringe sites including 4chan and Gab, before seeing it spread to platforms such as X. Sudhakar said hostility often intensifies when people of Indian or Hindu heritage gain prominence. Chopra’s research, co-authored for the Center for the Study of Organized Hate, found that anti-South Asian hate speech on X was 240% higher between January 2025 and June 2026 than in January 2024.
Chopra said debate around H-1B visas has become a political flashpoint, with online hate increasing around developments or comments concerning the program. Indian nationals account for more than 70% of H-1B visas, he said.
Researchers and community advocates also point to racist messages in political settings. A Republican candidate for statewide office posted an image of University of Texas football fans, saying that social media showed how many Americans had been “displaced by foreigners.” The Department of Homeland Security later removed a post depicting a Sikh man with a message about truck drivers after it drew criticism.
Calls for Indian and Hindu Americans to organize and speak out have grown following news of the alleged temple plot. Chopra said the community’s visibility and economic success do not necessarily translate into organized political influence. Pushpita Prasad of The Coalition of Hindus of North America said temples do not always function as regular congregational hubs, making it harder to share information and build networks. She also noted that many Indian immigrants face uncertainty about their status: two-thirds of the Indian population in the U.S. are immigrants, and nearly half of those immigrants are not naturalized citizens, according to the Pew Research Center.
Sources: NPR News.