Less than a day later eight people were shot and murdered at the Atlanta area spas, 6 of them Asian women, a Georgia official told reporters the suspect in the mass shooting was having a “bad day.” Now, this official is studying Facebook posts that appear to belong to him promoting a racist-language T-shirt about China and COVID-19.
“He was almost fed up and at the end of the rope. Yesterday was a really bad day for him and he did,” Jay Baker, communications director for the Cherokee County sheriff’s office, said Wednesday during a information session. explaining the alleged motives of the 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long, currently detained for Tuesday night’s attack.
Officials said the shootings “did not appear” to be racially motivated growing national concern on violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. A study published last week revealed that hate crimes against Asian Americans increased by about 150% by 2020, disproportionately affecting women.
Officials, however, said the suspect has sex addiction problems, addressing spas to “eliminate this temptation.”
“We’ve all had bad days. But we’re not going to three Asian companies and we’re shooting Asian employees,” the California representative said. Ted Lieu tweeted after the press conference. He urged the FBI to conduct an independent investigation.
A few hours after the briefing, Internet details uncovered Baker’s apparent Facebook posts in April 2020, which appear to show him the purchase and promotion of a T-shirt he called COVID-19 a “VIRUS IMPORTED FROM CHY-NA “.
“I love my shirt! Get yours while they last,” it says in a post. The shirt seems to echo the old one That of President Donald Trump characterization of COVID-19 as “China virus” and “Kung flu”.
At the time of the publications, Asian Americans were already expressing one’s fears increase in crime against the community because of the racist rhetoric surrounding the pandemic.
According to The Associated Press, “Jay Baker’s” account, which was deleted Wednesday night, featured several photos of Cherokee County Sheriff’s Captain Jay Baker dating back months, including one in which he uniformed out from the sheriff’s office.
The publications appeared in the Asian American community and expressed concern that the shooting should not be treated as a hate crime. Countless community members have said the department does not appear to be able to conduct a fair investigation.
“Seeing this message is both disturbing and outrageous. It speaks to the structural racism we are all against,” said Vincent Pan, co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, a civil rights organization working to combat anti-hate. -Asian. crimes, he told AP. “Along with the comments at the press conference, it does not give confidence to community members that our experiences, the pain and suffering we feel are taking us seriously, at least that particular person.”
Baker and the sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to CBS News ’request for comment.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the first South Asian woman to be elected to the post, said she and President Biden “regret the loss” after the mass shooting.
“I want to tell our Asian American community that we are by your side and we understand how this has scared, shocked and outraged all people,” he said.
Just four days before the attacks, Biden condemned the rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans in his first early speech in the nation.
“Too often we’ve turned against ourselves,” he said. “Vicious hate crimes against Asian Americans, who have been attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated.”
“He’s wrong, he’s anti-American and he has to stop.”