About two dozen members of Florida's Sikh community gathered outside the St. Lucie County Jail in a show of sympathy for three people killed in a collision on Florida's Turnpike and to support the truck driver charged with their deaths.

Harjinder Singh is accused of making an illegal U-turn in his tractor-trailer, Aug. 12, causing the deadly crash that killed Herby Dufresne, 30, of Florida City; Rodrigue Dor, 54, of Miami; and Faniola Joseph, 37, of Pompano Beach.

He is facing felony charges of vehicular homicide and manslaughter.

U.S. Army veteran and United Sikhs spokesman Jujar Singh was at the jail, Saturday, and says the community is expressing sorrow for all involved.

"We were not there to ask for leniency or anything like that," he said. "We were just there to mourn the loss and just to show that we are in this together with the families that have lost three people."

Earlier in the week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis repeated his claim that 28-year-old Harjinder Singh was an illegal immigrant who should not have been behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer.

"What happened was he came across the border illegally... from India and then (former President Joe) Biden gave him a work permit," DeSantis said.

The Sikh community feels targeted as a result.

"How it all unfolded, it kind of came out as a political event," Jujar Singh said. "People all trying to gain political gains from it, but right now I think they've all backed down."

Harjinder Singh's attorney and some group members met with him in jail.

"He's not cheerful," Jujar Singh said. "We were thinking that he would be in a very kind of depressed state, but we did not see that. He understands that he did mess up."

Jujar Singh invited the families of the victims to contact UnitedSikhs.org.

"As a community together, we are going to help them out in any way, shape, or form that we can," he said. "We hope to hear from them."

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