Alleged Aurora temple plot spurs security talks as Hindus mark Navaratri

South Asian leaders push hate-crime probe of Aurora temple suspect

Prosecutors said Alexandros Paporakis, 19, drove to the Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Temple in Aurora, Illinois, on Oct. 11 as worshippers gathered to open the festival of Navaratri, sat in the parking lot and fled before firing a shot because his rifle jammed. He was arrested later that day near his home in Palatine, Illinois, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) away, after a co-worker at a Taco Bell alerted authorities to his plan to “kill Indian people,” prosecutors said.

Paporakis faces felony charges of making a terrorist threat and unlawfully possessing a firearm. He is due back in court Friday morning. Prosecutors said he described himself as a white supremacist and neo-Nazi and used slurs and hateful language to refer to Indians and other minority groups.

After Paporakis’ arrest, authorities said they recovered weapons, ammunition, a gas canister labeled with a slur referring to South Asians and several items depicting Nazi symbols from his home. Officials said he wrote a lengthy note in which he fantasized about mass murder and expressed his desire to kill as many non-white people as he could.

The incident has cast a shadow over a community entering one of its most celebratory seasons. “A lot of us are just really appalled and just kind of disgusted,” said Asha Rao, executive director of The Chicago Kasam, a nonprofit aimed at bringing together the area’s South Asian community. “This is supposed to be a very peaceful time for our community, for all of us to come together and get time with our loved ones, our family, our friends, and be able to celebrate in a safe way.”

Navaratri is a nine-night celebration of the Goddess Durga that culminates in Dussehra or Vijayadashami; Diwali, the major Hindu holiday, comes about three weeks later. Avatans Kumar, a freelance columnist who occasionally attends the temple that was targeted, said people often break the nine-night fast with a huge celebration on the 10th day that features outdoor fairs and gatherings with friends and family.

This year, those events have been shaped by discussions about how to increase security. “People are more vigilant now,” Kumar said. “People are looking for any signs of disturbance, keeping eyes and ears open.”

Rao said some people were “more hesitant” to leave home and celebrate, but the threat had also sparked a renewed resilience and resolve to honor the holiday without fear. “That’s what it means to curate resilience in community in times like this,” she said, adding that she hoped South Asians could “recognize how far we’ve come, all the great things that are happening in our community, the friends and the people.”

South Asian local and congressional leaders are pushing law enforcement to investigate whether the thwarted attack was a hate crime and to pursue additional charges against Paporakis if it was. U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat whose district includes the temple that was targeted, previously told The Associated Press that he is “calling on the FBI to investigate and prosecute this particular matter as a hate crime.”

The planned attack has stirred painful memories of hateful comments. Use of anti-South Asian slurs online rose by 109% from 2023 to 2025, and nearly half of all South Asian adults said they experienced a hate act due to their race, ethnicity, or nationality last year, according to Stop AAPI Hate, which collects reports of hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Illinois’ South Asian population rose from more than 242,000 in 2010 to more than 337,000 in 2020, to comprise around 2.5% of the state’s total population, according to the South Asian American Policy and Research Institute. Some said bullying and race-based harassment were a regular part of life.

Rishab Chatty, who leads the Chicago chapter of Hindus for Human Rights, said hatred directed at Hindus and South Asians was once “thought to be something that namely existed in chat rooms and in school lunch cafeterias” but was recently “becoming more and more violent.” “A lot of folks within my community are really questioning what it means to belong in a country that exercises hate and violence against them,” he added.