The attacks of 9/11 sent the nation into a tailspin. Balbir Singh Sodhi was the first — but by no means the last — innocent victim of race motivated "retaliation" for 9/11.

Sodhi, a Mesa, Arizona gas station attendant had the bad luck of meeting Frank Roque on September 15, 2001, four days after the terror attack. Roque, who earlier told a waitress that he was "going to go out and shoot some towel-heads," drove to Sodhi's gas station and shot the unwitting attendant five times — in the back — while his victim landscaped the station's premises. Ever the charmer, Roque went to a local tavern and declared "They're investigating the murder of a turban-head down the street."

He was sentenced to death in 2003 only to have this sentence commuted to life without parole due to his low IQ and mental illness.