NARRATOR: In 1985, five brothers began immigrating to the United States from India.

NARRATOR: By 2001, these brothers were building successful businesses and raising their American born children.

This was their dream.

This was their home.

(theme music plays) Major funding for "A Dream in Doubt" was provided by the Corporation of Public Broadcasting.

Additional funding was provided by Indermohan Singh, Satjiv Chahil, Bhupi Singh and additional funders.

A complete list is available from ITVS.

♪ ♪ (wind).

MAN (over radio): Mostly sunny and hot today.

High of 106.

Partly cloudy tonight low of about 80.

Tomorrow partly cloudy, humid.

REPORTER 2 (over radio): We are following this breaking news story.

Flames pouring out of the tower at the World Trade Center in New York City.

BUSH: Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country.

RANA: After 9/11 everyone was scared.

First it was terrorist against American.

(Cars honk).

MAN: "Hey, America!"

RANA: Then it was Americans against Americas.

WOMAN: Go home!

You don't like America, leave this country!

We're proud to be Americans!

RANA: A lot of innocent people were hurt because someone thought they look like enemy.

Four days after the terrorists attack, my brother was shot.

OPERATOR (over phone): 911.

What's your emergency?

SATPREET: Well my uncle was talking to some peoples in the yard, at his gas station, and some guy came up and next to him, and shot my uncle.

(woman screaming).

SATPREET: I think he thought my uncle was a partner of Osama bin Laden.

SATPREET: Here's a picture of my uncle.

See, this, uh, I was talking about this one.

SATPREET: I think about him every time.

Whenever I go somewhere, I still think about him.

When I'm at home, I think about him.

When I'm like at places...

I really think about him, when I see his picture... (crying).

NARRATOR: His name was Balbir Singh Sodhi, the eldest of the brothers.

He wore a turban and beard in commitment to his Sikh faith and was America's first post-9/11 hate murder victim.

RANA: Why, why this person, you know, kill my brother?

Why he, what he feel it, you know, when he killed my brother?

What his purpose to kill anybody?

I can't, can't understand.

ANCHOR: This is a sight where a gas station owner who was born in India was gunned down and at this hour, police are considering bring hate crime charges against the suspect.

CASILLAS: Frank Roque drove up in his, in his pick up truck, it was a black Chevy S10 with chrome fender lips.

And he drove into the parking lot when he pulled into this area and stopped, the driver's side, his side, was next to, um, Mr. Sodhi.

That time he took his gun and stuck it out the window and fired it at Sodhi.

When he did that, after he did that, he drove, went on to University and then, uh, drove westbound.

CASILLAS: Let me finish, Frank... We served a search warrant on his house and we were able to recover two handguns, a 380 caliber handgun and a 9 millimeter caliber handgun.

Our crime lab was able to do a comparative analysis on the shell casings recovered at the scenes and were able to match the shell casings in the bullets to the guns.

CASILLAS: He made some comments, uh, to the officers, he was saying, "I'm a patriot, I'm an American."

There were probably a dozen people, or two dozen people arrested that day in the city of Mesa, and I'm sure that none of them said "I'm a patriot, I'm an American" BILL: Racism, bigotry, uh we describe it to people, we describe it to kids in the schools that it is a disease that is always looking for an opening, it's a virus that's always looking for a host.

(chatter).

WALSH: As I started interviewing the Sikh community, what I realized was that it was a story about an immigrant family.

And they came here for freedom of religion and Balbir Singh Sodhi died expressing his religion.

He wasn't standing on a street corner, uh, preaching about, about his faith.

He was simply wearing, wearing the turban that they're, that they're required to wear because they're Sikhs.

WALSH: There are some people who just don't understand who these people are.

They're making these, these wild assumptions that just because somebody is wearing a turban they're Osama bin Laden's brother.

HARJIT: Right.

(talking and singing).

NARRATOR: Political conflict between the Indian government and a group of Sikhs in Punjab escalated when the military stormed the Golden Temple.

Months later, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her two Sikh bodyguards.

In retaliation for her murder, thousands of innocent Sikhs were killed.

Facing continued discrimination, many Sikhs immigrated to the United States in pursuit of religious freedom and a justice system that they felt would ensure their safety.

(School bell ringing).

CONRAD: It is so nice to meet you Sapreet, and Brandon, this is your ambassador, this is Brandon West.

This is going to be home.

This is Misses Kiefer's classroom.

KEIFER: Come on in guys.

CONRAD: Why don't you go all the way in, honey?

I want to introduce, this is Mr. and Mrs. Singh Sodhi.

They would like to take just a few minutes to share a little bit about their culture, their heritage, and about their religion.

RANA: Good morning, everybody.

We are from India, immigrants from India, and we belong to Sikh religion.

All the people who belong to Sikh religion, they never cut their hairs and the mens wear the turban and like Satpreet have a patka, it's called patka.

That's a part of our religion.

STUDENT: Um, do you wear different ones on special occasions?

RANA: No, I have a different, uh, 20 different color of turbans.

I just choose the color what I want it.

STUDENT: Do you celebrate Halloween?

RANA: Yeah, we do.

Mmm hmm.

CONRAD: Oh, good, huh?

RANA: Yes.

STUDENT: Well, why don't you just wear a beanie?

RANA: Hmm?

STUDENT: Why don't you just wear a beanie?

CONRAD: Why don't you wear a beanie?

A beanie is just a littler, littler hat.

RANA: The name of this, it's called turban.

And this is part of our religion.

We keep it, wha, this is part of our dress also.

STUDENT: Do you speak another Eng, um another language?

RANA: Yes, I speak uh, English, and, of course, and uh I speak Punjabi, that's my mother language, and our national language is Hindi, that's Indian language, and uh, I, uh, speak Urdu also, that's a Pakistan language because my parents from Pakistan.

STUDENT: Did anybody die there, in India?

RANA: Yes this is a part of our life.

Everybody who came into this world has to go.

This is a God nature.

Everybody come to this earth have to go.

Okay?

Alright?

CONRAD: Good questions.

(School bell rings).

RANA: Thank you very much.

Thanks.

CONRAD: You feel like you're pretty comfortable?

SUKI: Yes.

CONRAD: Okay... RANA: On first day I met you I feel good.

CONRAD: Did you?

(laughing).

That makes, makes me feel really comfortable and wonderful too.

KIDS: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

And to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

RANA: Hello, how you doing buddy?

Nice see you.

CHRISTINA: Hi, how are you?

Nice to see you again.

Christina.

RANA: Jennifer?

CHRISTINA: Christina.

This is Jennifer.

RANA: Okay.

JENNIFER: I'm Jennifer.

RANA: Okay.

JENNIFER: Okay, I have for you guys, one medium... RANA: How you doing?

BILL: I'm good, how are you?

Very good.

How are you?

RANA: My wife, Sukhi.

BILL: I know.

How are you?

When you are part of a group that has been victimized by a hate crime, the most important thing in the world is to know that you've got friends, you've got supporters, you've people that are willing to stand with you.

Cameron Eckmeyer, Rana Sodhi.

RANA: Hi Cameron, nice to meet you.

BILL: Cameron's with the Scottsdale republic.

CAMERON: When you see a, see a community come together like that, does it lift your spirits?

RANA: Definitely and... (drumming).

NARRATOR: Eleven months after Balbir's murder, the second eldest brother, Sukhpal, was shot while driving a cab in San Francisco.

SILAS: Somewhere around 3:50 in the morning, you know, dark, not many people out.

While he was parked at the red light, uh, about three or four cars stopped at the red light.

The last car in this trail of cars, the passenger leans out the passenger side window and just starts firing a gun.

Um, the best we can picture things is his body leaned against the steering wheel, his foot against the gas pedal, so he kept the vehicle in a straight line.

And he just raced up 24th street until he encountered something that altered his path.

Basically, when he went through the intersection he became airborne.

We're only talking maybe a few inches or so, but enough to kind of alter him a little bit.

He contacted a parked car which he pushed about 15 or 20 feet or more.

Sheared off a power pole even with the sidewalk.

And he eventually wrecked into two cars and they just burst into flames.

And it was like a madhouse.

Everything went black because the power was out and now you just have this big bonfire in the middle of the street.

And it's, I don't know, it was a sight to see when we first walked up.

(sirens).

NARRATOR: On the first anniversary of Balbir's murder, the city of Mesa, Arizona, held a service in memory of America's post-9/11 hate crime victims.

SPEAKER: Each flame represents one of the souls... who sacrificed their life, the cause of peace and freedom since September 11th.

We pray that these acts of violence never happen again.

And we pray that these acts of gathering together in peace, in freedom, in remembrance, happen continuously.

RICK: Last year, I pledged to the Sodhi family and the Sikh community that justice would prevail and those whom killed Balbir would be held accountable.

As many of you know, I have charged Frank Roque with the taking of Balbir's life.

Ironically, Frank Roque's defense is insanity.

To him I say, yes, hatred is insane.

Yes, bigotry and prejudice is insane.

And yes, the killing of a person just because he wore a turban and a beard is insane.

But that does not excuse the senseless murder and you will be held accountable.

DHAMANJIT: I am Dhamanjit Singh Sodhi, nephew of Balbir Singh Sodhi My second uncle in San Francisco was shot and killed last month for no reason.

He was innocent.

My uncle Balbir Singh Sodhi and Sukhpal Singh Sodhi were both great uncles, great father figures and great human beings.

They did not, they did not deserve to die the way they did.

They've truly been missed this past year and always will forever.

Our family faith is with our gurus and the United States of America to protect the innocent.

God bless America and God bless my uncles.

(clapping).

♪ ♪ RANA: Okay guys, let's go.

(Music from the gudwara).

♪ ♪ (singing in native language) OPERATOR (over phone): 911 What is your emergency?

RANA: When Avtar Singh's incident happened it gave me a shock, it give me... in Phoenix again?

ROOP: We're going to have a meeting today with those people who are most vulnerable right now, which is those owners and employees of gas stations, convenience stores, motels, truck drivers, taxi drivers, so all of those people should meet today at 2:00.

ROOP: This person has threatened to kill him.

Should he go to work until they found out who this person is?

CROWD: Should!

Should!

ROOP: Should?

MAN: He should go to the work.

MAN 2: I know it's a very difficult situation to say go and work, because if something happens off work, still it would be like, it would be a hate crime still if they kill him outside.

MAN: Right.

BECKY: After 9/11, we were hearing about more incidents, so the, the Phoenix Police Department um, made contact with, with the Sikh community and started working very closely with them.

ROOP: This is Inderjit Singh right here.

This is Becky and she's, um, from the police department and she's gonna talk... BECKY: I don't think Inderjit is the only one.

He has had many occurrences that were happening to him that he didn't report to the police.

BECKY: I, I would like, I would like to talk to him... ROOP: Privately.

BECKY: Privately.

(phone ringing).

(phone ringing).

(phone ringing).

NEPHEW: This is wireless motion sensor.

NEPHEW: Ok, now do this.

Go downstairs.

You will see a bag with a wire just like this.

(speaking in Punjabi).

(street sounds).

RANA: Hi Inspector.

How are you?

SILAS: Hi, how are you?

RANA: This is Sukhpal's wife, just came from India.

SILAS: Well no, we looked at the issue of the hate crime in the beginning, but this was... your brother just happened to pass through an intersection where there was a gang altercation going on and a stray bullet entered his cab.

There were other bullets...

They lost the other brother to, to an obvious hate crime, um, and then to lose this brother, that's, that's just a loss that most people don't have to deal with.

They took it hard and they are still taking it hard.

Uh, and they just... they are having a hard time believing that it was just an unfortunate incident that their brother happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

They are looking for a reason for this to have happened to them and sometimes you can't put a reason on it.

It is just unfortunate, it's just an accident.

Stay in touch and I'll do the same.

♪ ♪ CHRISTIEN: Well Ted, Frank Roque's defense team is mounting their argument saying that Roque should be sent to a mental hospital, not a prison.

Roque is not arguing that he didn't fire those fatal shots in the days following 9/11, but he is saying that his history of mental illness was the reason.

BAILIFF: All rise.

ACETO: Please be seated.

IMBORDINO: These crimes are about hatred, and prejudice, and don't let them fool you.

They say, it's mental illness.

The evidence says, it's prejudice.

Now on September the 11th, did you hear something said from the direction of where Mr. Roque was sitting?

NORM: Yes.

IMBORDINO: Um, can you recall what it was that you heard?

NORM: That he was gonna go out and shoot some towel heads.

IMBORDINO: And do you remember that term towel heads?

NORM: Yes.

CASILLAS: It's September 15th, it's Saturday, it's the next weekend after the events occurred.

That morning, Frank ended up driving to the Wild Hare bar.

While he was there he, he uh, had some drinks, and was commenting on the news, the events of September 11th, that was the only thing that was on television.

COURTNEY: And there was about four or five guys there and he was right in the middle of them, and they were raising hell.

So these guys were just "rrrrh", they wanted to kill somebody and eliminate 'em period.

And he was right in the middle of 'em and he was the most boisterous of all.

OFFICER: What was he talking about?

PATTERSON: And I, I sense that at that particular bar at that particular time in the evening, there were a lot of patrons who had, had uh, alcoholic beverages to drink, correct?

NORM: Mmhmm.

PATTERSON: Who were developing some anger towards what they were seeing on that, those television monitors, correct?

NORM: Yes.

PATTERSON: Okay.

Thank you judge, that's all I have.

COURTNEY: My experience on the situation was just that anybody with a turban on their head was a target.

And that was, I uh, find out the guys from and you know that'd be a little different situation if he's from the country that got together and did it, that'd be a little different story.

I wouldn't go over there and shoot him, I'd beat the hell out of him or something, but not shoot him and kill him, cause what are you gonna do then?

You're gonna be up the creek without a paddle.

REPORTER: I'm sure you did, well thank you very much for that.

We're just getting started here at "Good Day Arizona".

Of course, we'll bring you news on this 9/11 anniversary about all the memorials that are being held across the nation.

BUSH: We remember lives lost.

We remember the compassion, the decency of our fellow citizens on that terrible day.

REPORTER: At 8:46 eastern, the time... PATTERSON: The events of that day, September 11th, 2001, so overwhelmed him that Frank Roque could no longer cope with the mental illness that was just bubbling beneath the surface of his being.

It was an illness that was present daily, but it was not so severe or not so active that he could not cope with it and treat it with a six-pack of beer on a daily basis.

BARRY: Me and Frank worked for Boeing at the time as structural repair mechanics and we worked on the Army Apache over in Mesa.

People would just keep him at a distant cause he had that problem with his angry.

It didn't take much to set Frank off.

He was just a ticking time bomb.

PATTERSON: Do you recognize the gentleman seated at the counsel table behind me?

HOWARD: Yah.

It's my brother.

PATTERSON: Did your mother have some mental illness problems?

HOWARD: Yes, she did.

PATTERSON: What did you understand your mom's problem to be?

HOWARD: Um, my dad said that she was schizophrenic and she had to take something called, uh, Thorzene.

She started, uh, doing a lot of strange things.

Um, she'd get up in the middle of the night and cook meals for people that weren't there.

Um, she'd have arguments with people that weren't there and she'd get into these crying fits or laughing fits even.

PATTERSON: Has your father ever uttered in your presence derogatory statements about black people?

MELISSA: He has, he's called them ... before.

PATTERSON: Okay.

How about people of Arabic ancestry?

MELISSA: No!

No!

PATTERSON: Okay.

How about people of Hispanic ancestry?

MELISSA: No.

PATTERSON: Okay.

Did you ever hear of any um racist attitudes that he had towards people from the Middle East?

MELISSA: No.

PATTERSON: Okay, how about people from India?

MELISSA: No, no not, no.

He did when September, after September 11th.

PATTERSON: Okay, alright, I'm sorry, good point.

BARRY: As the days went on after 9/11, he became just furious and that's all that he could talk about to the point where a lot of us were tired of hearing from Frank, and we would try to get away but he would just walk to anyone that would listen to him talk about how he hated the Arabs and, and how we should kill 'em all, and he would say this all day, for 10 hours, every day.

MELISSA: I don't know, I've never seen him like that, and he was so hurt, so, he was like, it was like not, it was not my Dad that I, it was not my Dad.

I have never seen him like this and I, I've never been close to my Dad, I've never, I don't remember the last time we said I loved you to each other or anything like that, but I just felt so bad for him, I felt like, I, you know, he needed a hug.

I don't know, I mean, I wanted, I wanted to hug my Dad, we just never were that close and I didn't, but... it wasn't him.

It wasn't my Dad at all.

IMBORDINO: Remember he said on the night of September 11th, the evidence suggests, "I'm going to go out and shoot some towel heads."

He told people at work "they ought to be killed and kill their children too."

And that's not instant effect because the murder didn't occur until the 15th.

He's thinking about it all those days.

This is what we're talking about, premeditated first degree murder.

(reading from Guru Granth Sahib).

(speaking in native language) (speaking in native language) BAILIFF: All rise.

Court is now in session.

ACETO: Good morning folks, please be seated.

The record will reflect that the jury is present, the lawyers are present, and Mr. Roque is present, and uh, could the foreperson please raise their hand?

Let me ask the foreperson a question: has the jury reached a verdict?

FOREPERSON: Yes.

ACETO: Please hand the verdict forms to the bailiff.

FOREPERSON: As to count one, we the jury, duly impaneled and sworn in the above-entitled action, upon our oaths, do find the defendant guilty of 1st degree murder.

(crying).

CHRISTIAN: At the end of this emotional trial, the victim's widow collapsed outside the courthouse.

HARJIT: This justice bring peace to everybody.

And we can walk on the street, without any, without any fear.

CHRISTIAN: This trial now moves on to the sentencing phase.

The jury will be back to work on Thursday morning to consider what penalty to a to implement with Frank Roque.

He faces the death penalty for his crime.

For now, reporting live in Mesa, Christian Kafton, CBS 5 news.

ROQUE: All I can tell you is pretty much this: what happened to me, and this is the truth, was, uh, I had a mental breakdown because of that 9/11 episode.

You know, it was the most horrific thing I've ever witnessed in my life.

I feel that I've been incorrectly portrayed.

Uh, I'm not a racist person.

It's hard to explain, like, what happened to uh, all the black people in LA when Rodney King got beat up by the police then, they showed that on TV, that film footage.

Why did it enrage, why did it enrage the whole Black community to the point of rioting?

What I saw on TV, it affected me to the point, it wasn't about racism.

What happened basically was that I had a mental breakdown and what happened, happened.

I wish that, that would have never what happened there in New York with what those terrorist people did.

I wish that would have never been shown on television.

ROSE: Ready?!

RANA: Yeah.

KIDS: Trick or treat!

ROSE: Thank you.

NEIGHBOR: You're welcome.

RANA: Nice to meet you.

NEIGHBOR: What was your name?

RANA: Rana.

NEIGHBOR: Spell it.

RANA: R-A-N-A.

NEIGHBOR: R-A-N-A, Rana.

RANA: Nice to meet you.

NEIGHBOR: Nice to meet you.

RANA: I'm Rana.

NEIGHBOR 2: Hello.

RANA: We're your new neighbors, right at the corner.

NEIGHBOR 2: Right at the corner, yes.

MAN: You better run!

RANA: That's so nice.

Thank you!

Thanks very much!

NEIGHBOR: Bye!

(speaking Punjabi).

BLITZER: To the elected president.

The blue states, Kerry, the red states, Bush... BLITZER: In the United States reporting, the president has 51% of the votes...

TEACHER: I think we were on Chapter 12, do you see the big red heading there on page 303?

KIDS: Yes.

TEACHER: What's one right that you have because of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution?

Chase?

CHASE: Freedom of Religion.

TEACHER: Okay so Freedom of Religion.

What else do we have?

Rose?

ROSE: Freedom of Speech.

TEACHER: Yeah, maybe some of your families have come here for these reason.

Whether it's Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Speech, freedom to do anything of these things.

They come here because maybe in their own country, where they're from they don't have these rights.

So, if we didn't have these rights, well gee well where would they go?

NARRATOR: Major funding for "A Dream in Doubt" was provided by the Corporation of Public Broadcasting.

Additional funding was provided by Indermohan Singh, Satjiv Chani, Bhupi Singh and additional funders.

A complete list is available from ITVS.