A motel manager and his family were reportedly the target of a racist attack July 9 by a man wielding a knife who broke into their home. Preet Moudgil, 35, and his family live at the Kettle Falls Inn, where he manages the motel and a gas station next door in this small town. Moudgil told The Spokesman Review that the suspect, Brandon Kilgore, 28, came into the motel lobby to ask for a shower seat for a hotel guest who is handicapped. During the exchange, Kilgore allegedly made several racist comments, including one about Guantanamo Bay.
“All he saw was a brown man.” In Washington state, a man was arrested after calling an Indian American motel owner and his family “terrorists,” threatening them with a knife and breaking into their home. 28-year-old Brandon Kilgore is accused of coming after Preet Moudgil and his family with a knife, breaking into their apartment in a racist rampage. Later, Kilgore told a police officer, “I was trained to kill people like them.”
Moudgil, who manages the Kettle Falls Inn, says that Kilgore came into the motel lobby on Saturday asking for a shower seat. He then asked Moudgil if he knew about Guantanamo Bay and made other racist comments.
He then allegedly returned with a knife and tried to break down the door between the lobby and the office, according to The Spokesman Review. “I’m going to cut you up because you’re a terrorist,” he said, according to Moudgil, whose family is Sikh and Hindu. “All he saw was a brown man,” said the motel manager, who has lived in Kettle Falls for more than a decade, and knows Kilgore’s family. “I think he thought we are Muslim, that’s what the rage was about,” Moudgil told KXLY News.
Kilgore then allegedly broke into the family’s apartment through a sliding-glass door accessible only by the roof. Once inside, he allegedly raised his knife and pushed Moudgil’s father, who was able to escape. Moudgil’s mother also fled the home with Moudgil’s 3-year-old son, according to the newspaper. A friend of the family subdued the man and took away the knife.
Other news media reported that Kilgore got into the family’s apartment through the back deck, after checking several windows to see if they were accessible. All family members were able to escape unharmed.
Kilgore was arrested the same evening and is being held on $100,000 bail on charges of first degree burglary, two counts of second degree assault and malicious mischief. His next court appearance is scheduled for July 19.
Moudgil told KXLY that he and his family have never previously experienced any sort of racism in the several years they have lived in Kettle Falls. He said he knew Kilgore’s sisters and mother, and described them as “wonderful people.”
