According to Arizona Representative John Kavanagh, Balbir Singh Sodhi “was not a 9/11 victim” and does not deserve to be recognized at the state 9/11 memorial. The Arizona legislature has passed a bill removing Mr. Sodhi from the memorial and selling his memorial plaque to a scrap metal dealer. Mr. Kavanagh told the Arizona Republic it was unclear to him that the shooting was directly related to 9/11. 

On September 15, 2001, Mr. Sodhi, a Sikh American gas station owner, was the first hate-crime related murder fatality in the wave of post-9/11 backlash. He was murdered outside of his Chevron gas station in Mesa, Arizona by a man who wanted to ‘kill a Muslim’ in retaliation for the terrorist attacks. He selected Mr. Sodhi simply because he had a beard and wore a turban in accordance with his Sikh faith.