New Jersey confirms nation’s first Sikh attorney general

FILE: Outgoing Gov. Chris Christie. (Photo: Governor Chris Christie/Facebook)

TRENTON, N.J. — The New Jersey Senate has confirmed the nation’s first Sikh state attorney general.

Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir Grewal was confirmed Tuesday. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy says he believes he’s the first Sikh to serve in such a position.

Former Republican Gov. Chris Christie tapped Grewal in 2016 to be the prosecutor in Bergen, New Jersey’s most populous county.

He’s a former assistant U.S. attorney in New Jersey, serving in the criminal division, and he served as a prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York. The Democrat says he’s “honoured and humbled” to be attorney general.

Grewal, who wears a turban and full beard, has said he wants to show the country and his three daughters, who attended his confirmation, his commitment to working to end intolerance.