US faith leaders recall Sikh’s bias killing post Sept. 11

By ANITA SNOW
Associated Press

MESA, Ariz. (AP) — Balbir Singh Sodhi is being remembered as the first person to die in the bias attacks unleashed after hijackers crashed airplanes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 9/11. Following Sodhi’s death at his Arizona gas station, more Sikhs, Arab Muslims and other people of varied ethnicities, races and faiths died because they were perceived as different. Faith leaders say the attacks 20 years ago released a dangerous wave of white supremacy and Islamophobia. But they also helped broaden, diversify and solidify an interfaith movement aimed at greater understanding and better communication among different religions.