Palatine police charge student in foiled temple shooting plot

Police in Palatine, Illinois, announced charges against a 19-year-old college student and Taco Bell cashier who allegedly attempted to shoot a crowd at the Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple in Aurora on Oct. 11. The attack was averted when the suspect’s gun jammed. The temple is located about 40 miles west of Chicago.

The suspect, Alexandros Paporakis, faces two felony charges: making a terrorist threat and unlawful possession of a rifle. Police said his coworkers reported the attempt after speaking with him by phone. A search of his apartment revealed an AR-style rifle, 300 rounds of ammunition, eight loaded magazines, one loaded extended magazine, and body armor. Investigators also found a gas can and items displaying Nazi symbols and anti-Indian slurs.

Court filings describe an eight-page document written by the suspect. The text contained derogatory slurs aimed at people of Indian ancestry, Jews, and African Americans, describing those groups as subhumans. The document stated the suspect had selected the temple location two months prior and had planned an attack for two years. He described himself in the writings as a sociopathic white supremacist who fantasized about mass murder daily.

Experts note that this incident is part of a wider rise in anti-South Asian hate. Rohit Chopra, a communications professor at Santa Clara University, stated that the scale of attacks directed at South Asians has not been seen before. Prasiddha Sudhakar, a board member of the Network Contagion Research Institute, said toxic online rhetoric has moved from fringe platforms to mainstream social media. She linked the surge in hate speech to specific political milestones, including the appointment of Usha Vance as second lady and the selection of Sriram Krishnan as a White House AI adviser.

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 compared to January 2024. Chopra attributed part of this spike to political debates over H-1B visas, noting that Indian nationals account for more than 70% of these work visas. The attempted shooting occurred on the first day of a major nine-day Hindu festival attended by U.S. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi and his family. Krishnamoorthi has asked the FBI to investigate the incident as a federal hate crime.

The community is now organizing in response to the incident. Pushpita Prasad of the Coalition of Hindus of North America said that Hindus do not belong to fixed congregations, which makes organizing difficult. She noted that many Indian Americans are immigrants who are not naturalized citizens, creating a sense of immigration limbo. Pew Research Center data shows that two-thirds of the Indian population in the U.S. are immigrants, and nearly half of those are not citizens. Palatine Police Chief William Nord said the seriousness of the threat cannot be overstated.