A candlelight march and vigil at Jackson Heights, Queens, last night brought a welcome message of peace and reconciliation to a community shaken by a still-unsolved crime. Earlier this month, an Indian cabdriver, his wife, their two children, and a cousin, all adherents of the Sikh religion, were viciously assaulted on the sidewalk outside their Woodside home by a group of apparently drunken men. According to the police, the attackers shouted, “Bin Laden family, go back to your country,” as they spat on the victims and beat them. Sikh men wear turbans, and women sometimes wear saris, which is apparently enough to make them prey for New York’s vigilantes, who confuse them with Arab Muslims. Not that innocent Arabs or Muslims ought to be prey for harassment, either.

But the image of innocent people being publicly tormented by bigots did not close this episode. Instead, a hastily formed coalition put together last night’s event. Pointed chants — “No more hate crimes, we want jus tice,” and “This is what democracy looks like” — were accompanied by short speeches from an appropriately diverse range of organizations, many of which have been at loggerheads in the past.

The Anti-Defamation League was there, as was the radical-left Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Taxi drivers, Korean businessmen, and ad-hoc groups like Astorians for Peace shared the podium with a complement of elected officials. We’re particularly glad to note the presence last night of City Council Members David Weprin, Hiram Monserrate, Eric Goia, and John Liu, along with Assemblyman John Peralta, Senator John Sabini, and Commissioner Sayu Bhojwani from the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.

It is important to make the point, publicly and frequently, that as a matter of custom, law, and human decency, New York City will offer no haven for those bent on xenophobic violence. It now falls to the police to back that message with swift action, by finding and arresting those responsible for the attacks.