The September 11th attack
Arizona, California Texas slayings probed as hate crimes

Associated Press

An announcement yesterday that an Arizona man was gunned down because he was "dark-skinned and wore a turban" heightened the fears of Americans of Middle Eastern descent and those who are often mistaken for Arabs or Muslims.

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In Phoenix, Prosecutor Rick Romley said Frank Silva Roque targeted minorities during a shooting rampage Saturday in which Balbir Singh Sodhi died.

"Mr. Sodhi was killed for no other apparent reason than that he was dark-skinned and wore a turban," Romley said.

Roque, 42, was jailed on $1 million bail and charged with murder.

"I'm an American. Arrest me. Let those terrorists run wild," Roque was quoted as saying in a police report.

Sodhi's slaying touched off protests in India and a call to President Bush from the prime minister.

FBI agents in Dallas were also investigating whether a Pakistani grocer's slaying stemmed from anger at Muslims for the terrorist attacks and the FBI also announced yesterday that they are investigating the shooting death Saturday of an Egyptian grocery store owner in San Gabriel, Calif., as a hate crime.

Around the country, several apparent backlash attacks and threats have been reported against people of Middle Eastern and southern Asian descent.

Among them: an attack on a Moroccan gas station attendant in Palos Heights, Ill.; an attempt to run over a Pakistani woman in a parking lot in Huntington, N.Y.; and the arrest of an armed man who allegedly dumped gasoline into the parking lot of a Seattle mosque.

Late last week, the American Civil Liberties Union set up hot lines in some of its offices, including San Francisco and Los Angeles, to track hate-related harassment. Officials say it's too early to release numbers.