In the quiet aftermath of a national tragedy, Balbir Singh Sodhi, a 49-year-old Sikh American man, was arranging American flags and planting flowers in front of his Mesa, Arizona, gas station on September 15, 2001. Having immigrated to the United States from India in 1988, he had built a life for himself and was known by friends and neighbors as a gentle and quiet man.
In the days following the September 11th terrorist attacks, he had expressed his grief and even donated to the victims' fund.
That Saturday afternoon, a man named Frank Silva Roque, a 42-year-old aircraft mechanic, was driving his pickup truck, fueled by a misguided rage and a desire for retaliation for the attacks. Roque had reportedly been ranting about immigrants and had told friends he was 'going to go out and shoot some towel-heads.' Seeing Sodhi, with his turban and beard in accordance with his Sikh faith, Roque mistakenly profiled him as an Arab Muslim. From his truck, Roque fired a. 380 handgun five times, killing Sodhi instantly as he knelt to plant flowers in a gesture of solidarity with the nation's grief.
Roque's rampage did not end with the murder of Balbir Singh Sodhi. He proceeded to drive to a gas station ten miles away and shot at a Lebanese-American clerk, but missed. He then drove to a home that he used to own, which had since been sold to an Afghan family, and fired multiple rounds at the house. Fortunately, no one else was physically harmed in these subsequent attacks.
Frank Roque was arrested the following day. During his arrest, he reportedly shouted, 'I am a patriot!' and 'I stand for America all the way!' His trial began in August 2003, where his defense argued that he was not guilty by reason of insanity, claiming he had a diminished IQ and heard voices. However, coworkers testified to his long-held animosity towards immigrants and Arabs. On September 30, 2003, a jury found Frank Roque guilty of first-degree murder for killing Sodhi, along with other charges related to the additional shootings. He was initially sentenced to death, but this was later commuted to life in prison. Frank Roque died in prison on May 11, 2022.
