SACRAMENTO, Calif.—A young man has died after being attacked near Sacramento in a fight that was allegedly motivated by racism and homophobia.

According to the Sacramento Bee, 26-year-old Satendar Singh, a native of Fiji, was taken off life support and died July 5 following an attack that occurred at Lake Natoma on July 1. Although the county sheriff's department has not yet classified the incident as a hate crime, state parks officials reported that the victim and his friends, who were celebrating at the lake, were the recipients of racial and homophobic slurs.

According to friends of Singh, a group of Russian-speaking men and women harassed Singh and his group throughout the day. That evening, the Bee reported, six of the Russian-speaking men initiated a fight with Singh and his friends. Singh was struck once, fell and injured his head.

"If the attack on Mr. Singh turns out to be motivated by hate against any particular group, California's hate crimes law can and should be applied," said Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors.

California's hate crime law specifically addresses bias based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Current federal law only covers hate crimes that are motivated by race, color, national origin or religion.