Democrats linked the stabbing of a Sikh truck driver in Wyoming to President Trump’s rhetoric even as authorities said the attacker’s motive remained unknown.

A Northern California truck driver identified only as Singh was stabbed 17 times at a Wyoming rest area, his lawyer said. Breitbart News reported that another tractor-trailer driver was suspected in the attack.

The Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the attack happened just before 3:30 a.m. near the Bitter Creek rest area on Interstate 80. Authorities had not announced a motive, yet California Democrats soon tied the violence to Trump administration rhetoric.

Singh had stopped for a bathroom break when someone punched him in the back of the head, according to an account he gave attorney Jasjit Singh. The victim repeatedly asked why he was being attacked before the man stabbed him inside the bathroom.

The wounded driver managed to push the attacker away and run outside. A family saw his condition and called 911, while a father and son followed the suspected attacker until he drove away in a tractor-trailer.

Wyoming troopers took a suspect into custody as motive stayed open

Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers responded to the rest area. A medical helicopter carried Singh to a trauma facility, while troopers detained the suspected attacker farther east on Interstate 80.

The suspect’s name, possible charges and legal status were not disclosed. Singh’s condition after reaching the trauma center also remained unclear.

Jasjit Singh, director of legal services for the Jakara Movement, raised the possibility of a bias attack. He said the driver believed his identity “may be part of the targeting” and asked how the attacker selected him in the middle of the night.

That concern deserves a full investigation. But concern is not proof, and authorities had not identified anti-Sikh or anti-immigrant bias as the motive.

Newsom’s office and Schiff tied the attack to political rhetoric

Diana Crofts-Pelayo, a spokeswoman for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, offered sympathy to Singh and his family. She then accused the Trump administration of spending more than a year spreading misinformation to “smear an entire workforce and target diverse communities.”

Crofts-Pelayo pointed to a deleted Department of Homeland Security social-media post as evidence. She called the post a “proof point” and said Trump’s rhetoric was hurting communities.

California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff went further. He called the attack “a sickening reminder that hateful rhetoric will never be just rhetoric.”

Schiff also argued that words attacking people over their skin color can incite violence when they carry official approval. His statement supplied a political explanation before authorities had supplied a motive.

A deleted DHS post became Democrats’ link to Trump

Earlier that month, the Department of Homeland Security had posted a warning telling commercial drivers who were in the country illegally to self-deport. The post included the line, “Get off our roads, you don’t know how to drive, Mr. Singh,” and was later deleted.

Nothing disclosed about the Wyoming investigation established that the suspected attacker saw the DHS message or acted because of it. Authorities had not connected the post to the stabbing.

The timing did not stop Democrats from treating rhetoric as the explanation. That move put politics ahead of the basic investigative questions: who attacked Singh, what prompted the assault and whether evidence supports a bias charge.

Singh was the victim of a brutal crime. He deserves medical care, a complete investigation and an honest accounting of what happened without politicians forcing the evidence into a ready-made partisan case.

Public officials should follow the facts before assigning blame. Victims deserve justice, not political speculation dressed up as certainty.