Atlanta Police “Suspect, Sex Addiction Problem”… Date of criticism “Do not rule out racism”

On the 17th (local time), a bunch of bouquets were piled up in front of the’Gold Spa’ in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. It was left by citizens who stopped by the scene to commemorate Korean women who were killed in the shooting. There was also a Korean memorial message saying’You are precious’ between the bouquets. The previous day, eight people, including four Korean women, were killed in the shootings at three Asian spas.

Chinese-born Bing Lu, 53, who visited the scene, said, “It is not yet known whether this case is a racial hate crime, but it is really heartbreaking for anyone to be judged on the basis of skin color and race.”

At the same time, the first press conference of the investigative authorities was held at the Atlanta City Hall. The investigative authorities said it is possible that the motive for the crime of the suspect Robert Aaron Long, 21, was related to’sex addiction’.

When asked “Is the suspect racially motivated to commit the crime,” said Jay Baker, chief investigator at Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office. “It’s still early, but the suspect claims he had no racial motive. “These places are the temptations he wanted to get rid of.”

Since 6 out of the 8 deaths were Asian women, the possibility of racial hate crimes was raised in the local media right after the incident.

On that day, investigative authorities prosecuted Long on charges of eight murders and one serious injury. The clue was “It is still too early to judge”, but as the investigative authorities seemed hesitant to admit the racist relevance, the Asian civil society and political circles strongly opposed it.

How could it not be a racial crime to kill an Asian employee by choosing only businesses run by Asian business owners?

“This is a crime targeting both gender and race,” said San Wu, a CNN legal analyst who served as a federal prosecutor. You have to prosecute,” he urged.

Congressman Ted Liu said, “The suspect drove 27 miles (43 km) after committing his first crime at an Asian business, went to a second Asian business, and then went to a third Asian business.” It is a racial hate crime in itself.”

Former FBI agent Asasha Langapa appeared on CNN and said, “Even if the suspect has diarrhea or transsexuality, going to an Asian massage spa without going to a strip club can be suspected of having a racial hatred.”

President Joe Biden was cautious. “Whatever the motive, I know that Asian Americans are very concerned,” he said. “I’m waiting for an answer from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice. I’ll have more to say once the investigation is complete.”

“I don’t know what the motives are yet,” said Vice President Kamala Harris. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged, “We need to quickly screen for racist crimes.”

However, it was pointed out that the police’s announcement of the progress of the investigation was inexperienced. New York Mayor Andrew Yang said, “It’s a waste of time to ask a madman for motives.” Spreading in public without skipping the one-sided argument of an incomplete suspect can distort the investigation situation.

Inappropriate use of language during the presentation was also on the cutting board. “The suspect was fed up and a little tired,” Baker explained the crime the day before. “Yesterday was a bad day for him, and this happened.”

Criticism was poured out in the local area for the appearance of calmly speaking to the suspect as’a wild day’ over the terrible incident of 8 victims. The Washington Post (WP) posted an editorial stating that “The Atlanta gunfire should not be regarded as having a’bad day’,” Sheriff Frank Reynolds appeared on CNBC and apologized. He also stepped back on the motives of the crime, saying, “I haven’t heard the suspect speak about race at all, but I will not rule out the possibility.”

Netizens shared a tweet that claimed that Baker had in the past “purchased a T-shirt that said, “Corona 19 is a virus imported from China (CHY-NA).” They also raised questions.

The investigation team could not answer the reporter’s question, asking whether the twenty-year-old murder suspect was ▶ a student or an office worker ▶ who lived with ▶ whether the firearms used were legally bought ▶ whether they used the business that committed the crime in the past. Some pointed out that mentioning the motives of the crime was not correct in a situation in which the basic facts were not understood.

As such, some raise doubts about whether the motive for the crime is being driven into the suspect’s individual disease problem and reducing the likelihood of expanding it to the racial problem. A local Korean said, “Racism is a politically sensitive subject, so I feel like I don’t want to raise work.” The racial composition of the United States is 60% white, 18% Hispanic, 13% black, and 5.9% Asian, with a very small Asian population.

As the impact of the incident increased, a message of consolation from major American figures toward Asia continued.

“The motives of the suspects are still unclear,” said former President Barack Obama, “but looking at the side of the victims, violence against Asians is on the rise. This must be stopped.”

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also said, “The surge of violence against Asian Americans is a growing crisis. “Our community and leaders must act to stop this hatred.”

“I am very sad that I am living in a world stained with hatred and violence,” said Rev. Bernice King, daughter of black civil rights activist Martin Luther King.

◇Korean victims cannot be disclosed = It was found that the 4 dead Korean women were 2 in their 70s, 1 in their 60s, and 1 in their 50s. The family is notified first and then the identity of the deceased is disclosed, which is said to have not been properly contacted with the family. All victims of the first victims of the victims, known to be run by Vietnamese women, have been identified.

Atlanta = correspondent Park Hyun-young [email protected], reporter Kwon Soon-woo, Atlanta Joongang Ilbo