Hundreds rally to support Asian-Americans on Atlanta shootings
Hundreds of people demonstrated in front of the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta on Saturday to denounce violence against the Asian-American community after eight people, including six women of Asian descent, were killed in shootings at three spas earlier this week. .
Protesters of all ages and ethnic backgrounds were seen waving American flags and carrying signs reading “We are not the virus” and “Stop Asian hate.”
US Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff and Georgia State Representative Bee Nguyen, the first Vietnamese-American to serve in the Georgia House, were among those speaking at the event.
“I just wanted to stop by to say to my Asian brothers and sisters, we see you and more importantly, we are going to be with you,” Warnock said when greeted by a cheering crowd and passing cars honking. in support of the rally.
“We are all in this together,” he added.
Growing anti-Asian hatred amid COVID pandemic
On Tuesday, four people died and one person was injured at a massage parlor in Cherokee County.
Shortly thereafter, shootings also broke out at two Atlanta massage spas across the street, leaving four more people, all women, dead.
Police charged a 21-year-old white man for the shooting.
The suspect, Robert Aaron Long, has admitted to the shooting but maintains it was not racially motivated.
He claimed to have a “sex addiction,” and authorities said it was caused by what he saw as sources of temptation.
However, lawmakers and anti-racism activists have said that anti-Asian bias may have been part of the motivation.
The killings come at a time of growing hatred against Asians in the country.
Community leaders have attributed hatred to Asian Americans being blamed for the coronavirus pandemic.
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She is a freelance blogger, writer, and speaker, and writes for various entertainment magazines.