Mesa Star Convenience Store

Balbir Singh Sodhi was the victim of the first fatal hate crime after 9/11. He was the owner of the Mesa Star Convenience Store and was working with landscapers when a white man named Frank Roque shot him three times. This tragedy sparked a string of controversy and support; many people with brown skin were targeted and the community banded together to protect each other. Sodhi's tragedy was also a subject of a bill and whether or not his name should be on a 9/11 memorial. This gas station is an unfortunate ground zero for the attacks and resulted in a beautiful display of unity through a reminder of a tragedy that rocked communities throughout the world.

Balbir Singh Sodhi was a victim of hate and society’s cruelty. He was a kind-hearted man that gave out candy to little kids and always had a smile on his face. He was a man that moved to the United States in the hope of a life of prosperity and inclusion. Instead, on September 15, 2001, Balbir Singh Sodhi was shot to death.

Mesa Star Food Mart lies at the corner of University Drive and 80th Street in Arizona and Balbir Singh Sodhi was a proud owner. Sodhi entered the U.S. on a six-month tourist visa in the late 1980s, hoping to get a start on his plan of moving his family to America. Sodhi initially stayed in California and worked as a taxi driver, working long and tough hours to support his family that was still in India. Then, there was a string of violent shootings against taxi drivers. Sodhi migrated to Arizona in hopes of fleeing the violence that he first hand experienced in San Fransisco: his close friend, a taxi driver, was shot to death. Sodhi was promised that Arizona was a peaceful, and safe place and the area he would move to has an extremely low crime rate. With high hopes, Sodhi moved to Arizona to start a gas station business with his brothers-- all of them living in the same house.

When Sodhi heard what happened on September 11, he immediately called his brothers. The brothers were feeling mixed emotions of heartache and shock with the rest of the country, as well as fear. The entirety of the Sikh community knew that they were targets because they wore turbans. The Gurudwaras (a place of worship for Sikh people) advised their communities to “wrap themselves in the American flag,” whether that be figuratively or literally. As a result, Sodhi made sure to paint the ceiling of the gas station red, white, and blue.

On September 15, Sodhi was outside of his store, coordinating with landscapers about the flowers that he wanted to be planted. As he was there, a white man named Frank Roque drove up in a pickup truck and shot him three times, and killed him. As Roque was taken away in cuffs, he yelled, “I am a patriot,” and “I stand for America all the way. We should round them all up and kill them. We should kill their children too because they’ll grow up to be like their parents.” Roque had seen Sodhi's turban and immediately associated him with the terrorists that were involved in the attack on the twin towers four days prior. Roque went on to shoot at a Lebanese-American clerk from his truck, but thankfully missed. From there, he went to his past residence, which was purchased by an Afghani family and fired shots at the outside of the house. After the last shooting, Roque went to a bar and gloated, saying, "They're investigating the murder of a turban-head down the street." The next day, police arrested Roque, with his bond set at $1 million. Roque tried to plead not guilty by insanity, but was found guilty of first degree murder and was subjected to the death penalty.

Erasure was a common entity for the targeted community. The story of Balbir Singh Sodhi popped up for a little while, and then just like that, faded into the background noise for white america. Sure, a few news outlets did a story on it, but ten years later, most of America does not know Balbir Sodhi Singh's name or his story. Unfortunately, Sodhi's murder was not the last. Any person with brown skin was targeted – women, men, and children. Xenophobia came in many forms: some were subjected to verbal assault, others to physical assault. Many people lost jobs and were discriminated against in almost every public area. For perspective, according to the ADC, there were over six hundred hate crimes against Arabs, Muslims, and South Asians. From verbal taunts to employment discrimination, CAIR says that there were 1,717 incidents of hate crimes from September 11, 2001 to February of 2002. Through community support, all people of color banded together to support each other, when others did not. This started a ripple movement across the world; they started being talked about. Instead of being background noise, the discrimination became a headline, and support boomed from places across the world. 

A few months before the 10th anniversary of Sodhi's murder, the Arizona State Legislature voted to remove Sodhi's name from the state’s 9/11 memorial. The bill’s original sponsor was Representative John Kavanaugh. He claimed that Sodhi was “not a victim of 9/11.” Kavanaugh stated, “It’s part of a myth that, following 9/11, Americans went into a xenophobic rage against foreigners. That’s not true. America’s reaction towards foreigners was commendable.” This caused a nationwide outcry; thousands of people banded together to support Sodhi's family and demanded that his story be heard. Once again, the community banded together and made sure that Balbir Sodhi Singh is a name that is not forgotten. Governor Jan Brewer reacted by vetoing the bill on April 29, 2011, so Sodhi's name still lies on the memorial. 

Twenty-one years later, the Mesa Star Food Mart which was the site of an unspeakable tragedy, now serves as a second ground zero for a whole society. His memorial outside of the gas station is visited every year on the anniversary of Sodhi's death. Balbir Sodhi Singh was targeted because of his turban and that same turban is a symbol of peace and solidarity for his people. 

Whitford, David. Our Generation: An entrepreneurial family's tale of horror and hope. The Sodhi brothers were making a comfortable place for themselves in America-- until one of them met a tragic end., CNN Money. March 1st, 2002. Accessed October 26th, 2022. https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fsb/fsb_archive/2002/03/01/319499/index.htm.

Kaur, Harmeet. A Sikh man's murder at a gas station revealed another tragedy of 9/11, CNN. September 11th, 2021. Accessed October 26th, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/09/us/balbir-singh-sodhi-9-11-cec/.

, . The First 9/11 Backlash Fatality: The Murder of Balbir Singh Sodhi, SALDEF. August 30th, 2011. Accessed October 26th, 2022. https://saldef.org/balbir-singh-sodhi/.

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Bowling, Joshua. 'He has become a beacon': Memorial honors Balbir Singh Sodhi, Mesa man killed in first hate crime after 9/11, AZ Central. September 16th, 2021. Accessed October 26th, 2022. https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/mesa/2021/09/16/memorial-honors-balbir-singh-sodhi-mesa-man-killed-9-11-hate-crime/8334849002/.