9/11 hate crime victim’s name stays on plaque, rules Arizona governor

As she met with the family of Balbir Singh Sodhi, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer April 28 vetoed a bill that sought to remove the post 9/11 hate crime victim’s name from a memorial plaque.
“I’m going to veto this bill right now,” Brewer reportedly told Rana Singh Sodhi, who had lobbied the governor to keep his brother’s name on a memorial plaque dedicated to victims of the Sept. 21, 2001 terrorist attacks. “It’s never going to happen in my state,” she said, apologizing to Sodhi’s family on behalf of Rep. John Kavanagh, the state legislator who sponsored HB 2230.
“Governor Brewer has made a wonderful decision and I’m very proud of my governor today,” Rana Singh Sodhi told India-West. “It broke my heart that someone wanted to remove my brother’s name from this plaque after 10 years. I kept asking myself, ‘Why does someone want to hurt us all over again?’ ”
Rana found out about the measure in mid-April when a reporter called him for comment.
Balbir Singh Sodhi, 48 at the time of his death, was gunned down Sept. 15, 2001, outside the Mesa, Ariz., gas station he owned with his three brothers, as he was planting flowers there. Frank Roque, who is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for Sodhi’s murder, told witnesses he was going to “go shoot some towel heads” to avenge the lives of the thousands of Americans who died in the 9/11 attacks.
Roque reportedly mistook the turbaned and bearded Sodhi – a Sikh – for a Muslim. Four years after he killed Sodhi, Roque was sentenced to death, but the Arizona Supreme Court later commuted his sentence to life without parole citing insanity.
Earlier in the week, Kavanagh also met with the Sodhis, and apologized for what he called “an innocent mistake,” which he claimed was based on insufficient research that Sodhi’s murder was not directly related to 9/11.
“He was the victim of a madman. He was not a 9/11 victim,” Kavanagh had told local reporters before meeting the Sodhis. “I don't mean to (dismiss) what happened to this individual. I don't mean to trivialize it.” Kavanagh has also sponsored legislation seeking to deny citizenship to U.S. –born children of undocumented immigrants.
While meeting the family, Kavanagh initially offered to sponsor a new bill the following year that would memorialize Sodhi on a separate plaque. But Rana Singh Sodhi – owner of the Guru Palace restaurant in Mesa – disagreed, saying that his brother deserved to be commemorated along with other 9/11 victims.
Arizona is planning a special memorial this year to commemorate the first year of the attacks. Kavanagh’s revised bill would not appear in the State Legislature until next year, leaving Sodhi out of the special commemoration.
The bill had passed both the state House and Senate before Brewer vetoed it. Other family members who witnessed the veto include Harjit Singh Sodhi, also a brother of Balbir Singh Sodhi, and Balbir’s son, Sukhwinder.
Balbir Singh Sodhi immigrated to the U.S. in 1988, and initially lived in Daly City, Calif., where he drove a taxi to support his family. He moved to Arizona in 2000 to work with his brothers, a year before he was killed. His wife and sons still live there, said Rana Singh Sodhi, adding that his daughters have moved to India after getting married.
Sodhi’s brother, Sukhpal Singh, was killed a year later in the early morning hours of Aug. 4, 2002 in San Francisco. Police still have no clues into the crime, in which Sukhpal was shot in the back of his neck. PBS has aired a documentary about the Sodhi family, titled “A Dream in Doubt.”
Rana Singh Sodhi and his wife Sukhbir attended the Nov. 24, 2009 White House dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Sodhi told India-West he shook President Barack Obama’s hand and thanked him for supporting the Sikh community.
The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund initiated a petition drive, enlisting Arizona residents to lobby Brewer to boycott HB 2230.
Source: India West
Sunita Sohrabji - India-West Staff Reporter