Sikh man killed Sunday in Arizona

by fwd: Amrapali Singh, rediff.com

Sun, Sep 16, 2001 12:33PM

An east Indian man was shot and killed while working the night shift at an Arizona convenience store. He was a Sikh, who dress similar to Muslims. The attackers only took a 12-pack of beer, fled, and have not been identified or captured..

Dhirha S Greywal, a 60 year old Sikh man, was shot once and killed at 2:30a Sunday while working the night shift at a convenience store in Pheonix, AZ USA. The assailants, 3 men and a woman, took nothing more than a 12-pack of beer before driving away and later abandoning their car on a Native American Indian resrevation.

Greywal was an east Indian from the city of Punjab, India. Sikhs wear turbans and long beards similar in appearance to Muslims, but they are entirely seperate religion from the Arab-centric religion Islam.

http://www.rediff.com/us/2000/jul/20us2.htm

For more information: http://www.rediff.com/us/2000/jul/20us2.htm

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§this happened over a year ago

by anonymous

Sun, Sep 16, 2001 1:38PM

while tragic, this is not current news. it happened in July 2000, over a year ago.

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§A different killing took place Sunday in AZ

by Repost: FOSTER KLUG (from A.P.)

Sun, Sep 16, 2001 7:39PM

In Arizona, gunman kills immigrant from India; Lebanese-American station attendant also targeted

FOSTER KLUG, Associated Press Writer

(09-16) 18:03 PDT MESA, Ariz. (AP) --

An Indian-immigrant gas station owner was shot to death and a Lebanese-American clerk was targeted, but not injured, by gunfire at another gas station, police said Sunday.

Shots also were fired at a home where a family of Afghani descent live.

Frank Roque, 42, was charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder in the shooting incidents Saturday. Police were investigating the possibility that the crimes were motivated by Tuesday's terror attacks in New York and Washington.

Around the country, several apparent backlash attacks and threats have been reported against people of Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian descent.

The East Valley Tribune reported that Roque shouted, "I stand for America all the way," as he was handcuffed Saturday night.

Police were still investigating, and had yet to determine whether to add hate crimes charges.

"Certainly, the bias crime is paramount in our investigators' minds," Sgt. Mike Goulet said. "That is something we are looking at."

Police also notified FBI officials who investigate hate crimes, he said. Roque was arraigned Sunday and bond was set at $1 million.

The first shooting killed Balbir Singh Sodhi, 49, who was Sikh. His relatives pointed to the fact that the gas station wasn't robbed as evidence that Sodhi was targeted because of how he looked. Male Sikhs often have long facial hair and wear turbans.

"He wouldn't have any enemies," said his cousin, Harjit Singh Sodhi.

The clerk at the second gas station was a U.S. citizen of Lebanese descent, according to his employers, Ali Saad and Saad Saad. The brothers, who didn't give the clerk's name, said they had no doubt that he was targeted because of his race.

"In Mesa, Arizona, today, it's time for calm and rational thought," Mayor Keno Hawker said Sunday. "These people are innocent. Because they wear a turban on their head is no indication they are terrorists."

Since Tuesday's attacks, authorities across the country have reported a number of attacks and threats against people of Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian descent.

Among them: an attack on a Moroccan gas station attendant in Palos Heights, Ill.; an attempt to run over a Pakistani woman in a parking lot in Huntington, N.Y.; and the arrest of an armed man who allegedly tried to set fire to a Seattle mosque.

For more information: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...

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