The latest in a wave of attacks carried out against members of the AAPI community took place in Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday, when a white gunman entered three different massage parlors and fatally shot eight people, six of whom were Asian women. Below, find all the details on the horrific crime, as well as resources on how to support the AAPI community today and every day.
Who were the victims?
Right now, not much is known about the identities of the eight people who were killed. An official from the South Korean Consulate in Atlanta confirmed on Wednesday that four of the eight killed were ethnic Koreans, but the nationalities of the four women were not immediately known. Some have speculated about the link between massage parlors and sex work, pointing to the fact that sex workers of color are at an even greater risk for sexual violence or assault.
Who was the shooter?
The suspect in the shootings, identified as Robert Aaron Long, 21, of Woodstock, Ga., was captured in Crisp County, about 150 miles south of Atlanta, after a manhunt, said authorities.
What has public reaction been like?
Many members of the AAPI community have taken to social media to express grief, horror and outrage over the shootings, noting the lack of protections for working-class Asian women in particular and decrying the lack of publicly available information about the victims:
How can I help?
There are many organizations working to decrease violence and provide resources to the AAPI community’s most vulnerable members, including Heart of Dinner, Stop AAPI Hate, the Asian Pacific Fund’s COVID-19 Recovery Fund, Welcome to Chinatown, and the Asian Mental Health Collectivel. To help sex workers exist safely in increasingly vulnerable times, consider donating to the Sex Worker Outreach Project, or read up on the work of Asian-led sex work grassroots collective Red Canary Song.
How can I learn more about the origins of anti-Asian discrimination?
There are many excellent resources on this topic, from Electric Lit’s “Literary Guide to Combat Anti-Asian Racism in America” to NPR’s backlog of stories on the rise of hate crimes against Asian-Americans associated with COVID-19. Writers currently tackling the topic in both fiction and nonfiction include Rowan Hisayo Blanchard, Cathy Park Hong, Charles Yu, T Kira Madden, Ocean Vuong, Erika Lee, and Jeff Chang.
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