Balbir Singh Sodhi, who had a beard and wore a turban in accordance with his Sikh faith, was mistakenly profiled as an Arab Muslim and murdered by 42-year-old Frank Silva Roque (July 8, 1959 – May 11, 2022),[2] a Boeing aircraft mechanic at a local repair facility who held a criminal record for an attempted robbery in California.

[7] Sodhi's gas station had been running for just a year prior to his murder and in that time he had become known amongst the community as a generous and kind man who often gave free candy to children who came in.

[9] On September 15, 2001, 4 days after the attacks, Roque took his Chevrolet S-10 from the Wild Hare sports bar in Mesa, where he had reportedly been ranting about immigrants, and drove to the Chevron gas station owned by Sodhi.

At the time of the shooting, Sodhi was helping landscaper Luis Ledesma plant flowers around the edge of his gas station in order to commemorate the lives of those lost in the 9/11 attacks.

[10] Roque, who apparently wanted revenge for the 9/11 attacks, racially profiled him as an Arab Muslim because of the clothes he wore, his turban, and his beard.

After fleeing the scene of the final shooting, Roque was reported to have gone to a local bar and boasted, "They're investigating the murder of a turban-head down the street.

"[12][1] Sodhi's murder was preceded by multiple hostile incidences in the Phoenix area, targeted at Sikhs in the days following the 9/11 attacks.

[14] Sikhs became the victims of a multitude of hate crimes such as murder, redundancy, threats, and the burning of their places of worship (Gurudwaras).

Defense attorneys argued he was not guilty due to insanity, claiming that he had a diminished IQ and heard relentless voices telling him that Arabs were Satanic and must be killed.

Roque's defense attorney characterized him as mentally ill, and noted that his mother had twice been hospitalized for schizophrenia, a condition which has been shown to appear in those genetically predisposed to it.