Police say 'nothing off the table' in spa rampage
Police in Georgia sought further clues on Thursday in the killing of eight people, six of them Asian women, at Atlanta-area spas - shootings that have brought a spate of recent hate crimes against Asian Americans into the national spotlight.
STATE REP. SAM PARK: "Enough is enough. We must stop the hate and violence."
On the steps of the state capitol on Thursday, local lawmakers and community leaders in Atlanta condemned what they called racist political rhetoric, singling out former President Donald Trump.
STATE SEN. SHEIKH RAHMAN: "I want to say, Mr. ex-president, I ask you to stop spreading hate and lies against our Asian-American brothers and sisters. Be an American. Be a decent human being."
Democrats on Capitol Hill also drew a line to Trump on Thursday. During a House panel on discrimination and violence against Asian-Americans, congresswoman Judy Chu blamed Trump's comments following the COVID-19 outbreak for stoking anti-Asian sentiment.
"He used racial slurs like 'Wuhan virus,' 'China plague' and 'kung flu' despite the fact that the CDC and the World Health Organization warned not to associate the virus with a specific ethnicity, country or geographic region due to the stigma it causes."
Korean American community leaders in Georgia directed their anger at Atlanta police, saying at a Thursday press conference that the sheriff’s deputy who said the accused shooter had a "bad day" was disrespectful to the victims.
MICHELLE KANG, KOREAN AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: "They attempt to protect the shooter and portray him as a misguided youth."
The white, 21-year-old gunman, who police say confessed to the shootings, suggested to investigators that a sex addiction led him to carry out Tuesday's violent rampage.
But congresswoman Chu believed the businesses he targeted told a different story.
"The first one being Young's Asian Massage, then driving 27 miles to two other Asian spas. His targets were no accident."
Atlanta authorities said on Thursday that it was too early to determine a motive but that a hate crime charge was not "off the table."
