MILWAUKEE; Harvinder Singh had 11 days to pursue the American dream before he fell victim to the nightmare of American crime.
The 28yearold native of India was shot dead by robbers after he chased them from his cousin’s grocery store with a broom. He had been working at the store as a clerk.
“He didn’t know what you do when you come to this country”, said another cousin, Amarjit ~ Singh. “That people just grab your money and they shoot you”.
“He did not know that when you pick up a broom, the other person will have a gun,” Singh said.
‘Another cousin, Amrik Singh, 7, was wounded in the robbery. Police arrested two Milwaukee men and a 16yearold boy in the case.
John Moss, 23, has been charged with second degree murder.
Billy Johnson, 20, was charged with aiding and abetting the crimes.
The district attorney’s office has filed a petition to have the 16yearold boy declared delinquent. He is accused of being a lookout during the robbery.
Except for Amarjit Singh, relatives declined to discuss the killing, some out of fear and some out of anguish,
Singh, 30, has lived in the United States for five years and owns a gas station,
He said he carried with him the idea that United States was a good country that promised freedom and opportunity.
“What we want to do is feed ‘ourselves with our sweat”, Singh said. “To me freedom means that we not have trouble, and the next thing we know we are shot. What I feel really bad about is that lot of Indian people doing know what to” do”.
Singh would like the police or the government to provide more protection for citizens and do a better job informing visitors about crime,
In India, crime is controlled through family and neighborhood ties, Singh said. A person who commits a crime is ostracized long before the law intervenes, violent crime is not common in India, Singh said.
The death of his cousin has left Singh consumed with anger.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 2, 1987
