On March 16, 2021, a

shooting spree A spree killer is someone who commits a criminal act that involves two or more murders or homicides in a short time, in multiple locations. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics defines a spree killing as "killings at two or more locations w ...

occurred at three

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

s or

massage parlor A massage parlor (American English) or massage parlour (Canadian/British English) is a place where massage services are provided for a fee. In the 19th century, the term began to be used in English as a euphemism for a brothel. Context In 1894 ...

s in the

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, United States. Eight people were killed, six of whom were women of Asian descent, and one other person was wounded. A suspect, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long, was taken into custody later that day. He told police he was motivated by a

sexual addiction According to proponents of the concept, sexual addiction, also known as sex addiction, is a state characterized by compulsive participation or engagement in sexual activity, particularly sexual intercourse, despite negative consequences. The con ...

that was at odds with his

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, for which he had spent time in an

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

treatment clinic. He was charged with 19 crimes in

Fulton County Fulton County is the name of eight counties in the United States of America. Most are named for Robert Fulton, inventor of the first practical steamboat: *Fulton County, Arkansas, named after Governor William Savin Fulton *Fulton County, Georgia *F ...

, and 23 in

Cherokee County Cherokee County is the name of eight counties in the United States: * Cherokee County, Alabama * Cherokee County, Georgia * Cherokee County, Iowa * Cherokee County, Kansas * Cherokee County, North Carolina * Cherokee County, Oklahoma * Cherokee Co ...

. Long pleaded guilty to the Cherokee County charges and was sentenced to life without parole.

Events

Shootings

Cherokee County shooting

The suspect, Robert Aaron Long, legally purchased a 9mm handgun at Big Woods Goods, a firearms store and indoor gun range in Holly Springs, hours before the shooting. Like most states,

does not have a

waiting period A waiting period is the period of time between when an action is requested or mandated and when it occurs. In the United States, the term is commonly used in reference to gun control, abortion and marriage licences, as some U.S. states require ...

to buy a gun. Surveillance footage showed him arriving at Young's Asian Massage, a massage parlor near Acworth, and sitting for an hour in the parking lot. He then entered the building at about 3:38p.m. EDT and remained inside for a period of one hour and 12 minutes. Police did not elaborate on what Long did during this time. Another customer who went to Young's that day said in an interview that everything was still normal inside when he arrived at around 4:40p.m. Long left Young's at 4:50p.m. Shots were fired at some point after. A customer who survived a gunshot wound said the gunman walked into Young's and began firing. The customer threw himself to the floor and begged the gunman not to shoot him. The gunman demanded him to look up at him, and when the customer complied, he was shot in the face. The first 9-1-1 calls reporting the shooting to the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office were made at 4:54p.m. Police arrived within minutes of Long leaving. There, they found two people fatally shot and three others wounded in different rooms down a hallway; two of the wounded later died at a hospital. Police found a male customer, whose wife and fellow customer was fatally shot, sitting on a bed in another room, scared and confused, and detained him for four hours.

Piedmont Road shootings

Aromatherapy and Gold Spas (Piedmont Road, Atlanta)

At 5:47p.m.EDT, the APD responded to reports of a robbery at Gold Massage Spa on Piedmont Road in northeast

, about from the first shooting scene. There, they found three women dead from gunshot wounds. While Atlanta police were at Gold Spa, they received reports of another shooting across the street at Aromatherapy Spa, where they discovered another woman shot and killed. Two Gold Massage Spa employees who survived the shooting reported hearing ticking sounds while in a break room, which turned out to be gunfire. They hid in a lounge, using items to take cover, and were shot at but not injured. According to them, the gunman did not speak or make any other sounds during the shooting, and he locked both the front and back doors of the spa at some point. According to a report from national

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

newspaper ''

The Chosun Ilbo ''The Chosun Ilbo'' (, ) is a daily newspaper in South Korea and the oldest daily newspaper in the country. With a daily circulation of more than 1,800,000, the ''Chosun Ilbo'' has been audited annually since the Audit Bureau of Circulations w ...

'', a Gold Massage Spa employee who escaped from the store during the shooting stated that the shooter said, "I'm going to kill all Asians." According to an eyewitness, the attacker shot the worker who opened the door of Aromatherapy Spa for him and fled without entering the interior. According to the APD, they noticed the similarities between the Piedmont Road and Cherokee County shootings and subsequently dispatched officers to patrol similar businesses in the area. The

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

was called in to assist in the investigation.

Arrest

After the first shooting, Cherokee County police released surveillance footage to the public and were contacted by Long's parents, who recognized him. While they were being interviewed, the APD was responding to the second and third shootings in Atlanta. His parents informed deputies that Long's

Hyundai Tucson The Hyundai Tucson ( ko, 현대 투싼) (pronounced Tu-són) is a compact crossover SUV (C-segment) produced by the South Korean manufacturer Hyundai since 2004. In the brand's lineup, the Tucson is positioned below the Santa Fe, and above the K ...

was equipped with a tracking device. Using surveillance footage of his vehicle at both crime scenes along with the car's tracker, police were able to ascertain his location. At around 8:30p.m., roughly 3.5 hours after the shootings, Long was spotted by police in Crisp County, about south of Atlanta.

Georgia State Patrol The Georgia State Patrol (GSP) was established in March 1937 in the U.S. state of Georgia and is a division of the Georgia Department of Public Safety. It is the primary state patrol agency for the U.S. state of Georgia. Troopers operate primar ...

officers followed him south on

Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from S ...

until a location just south of Cordele, where they used a

PIT maneuver The PIT maneuver (precision immobilization technique) or TVI (tactical vehicle intervention) is a pursuit tactic by which a pursuing car can force a fleeing car to turn sideways abruptly, causing the driver to lose control and stop. It was d ...

to stop his vehicle and took him into custody. Long was on his way to Florida when he was apprehended. Long was initially arrested in connection to the Cherokee County shooting; police later identified him as a suspect in the Piedmont Road shootings as well. Police found a 9mm handgun in his car.

Victims

The shooter killed seven women and one man. One man was wounded. Six died at the scene, one en route to a hospital, and one in treatment. Six victims, four at Piedmont Road and two at Cherokee County, were women of Asian descent. The others were a white woman and a white man, and the survivor is a Hispanic man from

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

. The South Korean Foreign Affairs Ministry reported that four of the dead were of Korean ethnicity, and one was a

South Korean citizen South Korean nationality law details the conditions in which an individual is a national of the Republic of Korea (ROK), commonly known as South Korea. Foreign nationals may naturalize after living in the country for at least five years and s ...

. Police released the names of the eight deceased victims on March 19. The victims at Young's Asian Massage were Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33; Xiaojie Tan, 49; Daoyou Feng, 44; and Paul Andre Michels, 54. The victims at the Gold Spa were Hyun Jung Grant, 51; Suncha Kim, 69; and Soon Chung Park, 74. The victim at Aromatherapy Spa was Yong Ae Yue, 63.

Perpetrator

The suspect was identified as 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long, of

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

. He was born in April 1999, in

Woodstock, Georgia Woodstock is a city in Cherokee County, Georgia, United States. The population was 33,039 as of 2019 according to the US Census Bureau. Originally a stop on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Woodstock is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. ...

, and was raised in a conservative community. He graduated from Sequoyah High School in the spring of 2017. From fall 2017 to fall 2018, Long was enrolled at the Cumming campus of the

University of North Georgia The University of North Georgia (UNG) is a public senior military college with multiple campuses in Georgia. It is part of the University System of Georgia. The university was established on January 8, 2013 by a merger of North Georgia College ...

, but he did not earn a degree. Long was a hunter and was heavily involved in his

Southern Baptist The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The word ...

congregation. Cherokee County Sheriff Frank Reynolds said Long did not have any prior interactions with law enforcement. Long spent time in HopeQuest, an

treatment facility located near Acworth and down the road from the first spa that he attacked. He was a patient at the treatment center for what he described as "

sex addiction According to proponents of the concept, sexual addiction, also known as sex addiction, is a state characterized by compulsive participation or engagement in sexual activity, particularly sexual intercourse, despite negative consequences. The con ...

", a label used by some for those that cannot control their sexual urges as expected by purity culture. He claimed to be "tortured" by his addiction to sex since he was "deeply religious", according to his

halfway house A halfway house is an institute for people with criminal backgrounds or substance use disorder problems to learn (or relearn) the necessary skills to re-integrate into society and better support and care for themselves. As well as serving as a ...

roommate. His roommate also said that, several times during his stay at the halfway house, Long said that he had "relapsed" and gone to massage parlors to visit

sex worker A sex worker is a person who provides sex work, either on a regular or occasional basis. The term is used in reference to those who work in all areas of the sex industry.Oxford English Dictionary, "sex worker" According to one view, sex work is d ...

s. His parents had kicked him out of their house the night before the shooting due to concerns about his sex addiction, and said he watched

internet pornography Internet pornography is any pornography that is accessible over the internet, primarily via websites, FTP servers peer-to-peer file sharing, or Usenet newsgroups. The availability of widespread public access to the World Wide Web in late 1990s ...

several hours each day. A report to police said that he "was emotional" after being evicted from his parents' house.

Motive

According to the police, Long described his actions as being the result of a sex addiction that conflicted with his religious beliefs. Long had been a customer at two of the massage parlors, and saw them as sources of sexual temptation. Police records show that two of the massage parlors had been the site of 10 prostitution arrests, the latest of which took place in 2013. All three targeted spas appeared on an online guide to brothels. Long claims to have initially thought about killing himself but instead decided to target the businesses to "help" others dealing with sex addiction. According to the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department, Long wanted to "eliminate the temptation" by targeting spas. He had been an active member of Crabapple First Baptist Church in

Milton, Georgia Milton is a city in Fulton County, Georgia, United States. Located about 30 miles due north of Atlanta, Milton is known for its rural and equestrian heritage. The City was incorporated on December 1, 2006, out of the unincorporated northernmost pa ...

. The church took down its Facebook site, which included photos that included Long, after the shooting. Ruth Graham, a national religion correspondent of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', wrote that Long "seemed to have a fixation on sexual temptation, one that can lead to despair among people who believe they are failing to follow the ideal of refraining from sex and even lust outside heterosexual marriage." According to Samuel Perry, a professor of

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

and author of three books on the modern evangelical church, the church's confusing sex rhetoric can lead to desperation over perceived sex addiction and a belief that one must take extreme measures to stop it. The

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...

does not have sex addiction as a diagnosis in the

DSM-5 The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition'' (DSM-5), is the 2013 update to the ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'', the taxonomic and diagnostic tool published by the American Psychiatric ...

. The

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

includes "

excessive sexual drive Hypersexuality is extremely frequent or suddenly increased libido. It is controversial whether it should be included as a clinical diagnosis used by mental healthcare professionals. Nymphomania and satyriasis were terms previously used for the c ...

" as a diagnosis (code F52.7) in the latest version of the

International Classification of Diseases The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is a globally used diagnostic tool for epidemiology, health management and clinical purposes. The ICD is maintained by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is the directing and coordinating ...

(ICD-10), but as a

compulsive behavior Compulsive behavior is defined as performing an action persistently and repetitively. Compulsive behaviors could be an attempt to make obsessions go away. The act is usually a small, restricted and repetitive behavior, yet not disturbing in a pa ...

impulse control disorder Impulse-control disorder (ICD) is a class of psychiatric disorders characterized by impulsivity – failure to resist a temptation, an urge, or an impulse; or having the inability to not speak on a thought. Many psychiatric disorders feature imp ...

rather than an addiction. Psychologist

David J. Ley David J. Ley is a clinical psychologist and author, known for his critical stance regarding sex addiction. His first book, ''Insatiable Wives'', won a Silver Medal in the Foreword Magazine Book of the Year in 2009. A ''Publishers Weekly'' revie ...

and neuroscientist Nicole Prause noted significant differences between sex addiction and other types of addiction. Psychotherapist Robert Weiss, who diagnoses people with sexual addiction, expressed doubt in the diagnosis for Long because sex addicts are typically nonviolent. Some noted the ethnicity of six of the victims, who were Asian women, amidst an increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in the United States during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, or characterized the shooting as a

hate crime A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demograph ...

. Some experts have said that race cannot be ruled out as a motive because of the fetishization of Asian women in the U.S. Long said that his actions were not racially motivated.

Legal proceedings

On March 17, Long was charged with eight counts of murder, split evenly between the shooting in Cherokee County and the shootings in Atlanta, and one count of

aggravated assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

in Cherokee County. He confessed to the killings while in custody. On May 11, Long received a 19-count indictment by a

grand jury on charges including murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and

domestic terrorism Domestic terrorism or homegrown terrorism is a form of terrorism in which victims "within a country are targeted by a perpetrator with the same citizenship" as the victims.Gary M. Jackson, ''Predicting Malicious Behavior: Tools and Techniques ...

. During the press conference, district attorney

Fani Willis Fani Taifa Willis (, born October 27, 1971) is an American attorney from the state of Georgia. She is the district attorney of Fulton County, Georgia, which contains most of Atlanta. She is the first woman to hold the office of Fulton County dis ...

shared her plans to seek

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

and hate crime enhancements if he is convicted of murder. Later that day, he received a 23-count indictment on charges of malice murder, felony murder, attempt to commit murder, and aggravated assault from a grand jury in Cherokee County, Georgia. On July 27, Long pleaded guilty to the Cherokee County charges and was sentenced to life without parole. Cherokee County District Attorney Shannon Wallace said that investigators had found no evidence of racial bias in the shootings. On August 30, state prosecutors announced Willis had filed court papers seeking the death penalty against Long for the Fulton County charges and designating the Piedmont Road shootings as a hate crime based on race and gender. On September 28, Long pleaded not guilty to the Fulton County charges.

Reactions

Government

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris meet with Asian American leaders in Atlanta

On March 18, President Joe Biden ordered all U.S. flags at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

, on other federal grounds, at military installations, on naval vessels, and at U.S. diplomatic missions to be flown at

half-mast Half-mast or half-staff (American English) refers to a flag flying below the summit of a ship mast, a pole on land, or a pole on a building. In many countries this is seen as a symbol of respect, mourning, distress, or, in some cases, a salu ...

until sunset on March 22 to respect the victims of the shooting. He and

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...

subsequently met with local Asian American community leaders on March 19 to discuss the shootings. After the meeting, he gave a speech condemning rising hate crimes against Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic and declared his support for the proposed COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which he claimed would facilitate tackling anti-Asian hate crimes. South Korean

foreign minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

Chung Eui-yong Chung Eui-yong (; born 14 April 1946) is a South Korean diplomat and a politician served as Ministry of Foreign Affairs (South Korea), Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2021 to 2022. Chung was previously President Moon Jae-in's first Office of Na ...

and national defense minister Suh Wook held a joint press conference in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

on March 19 with their U.S. counterparts Secretary of State

Antony Blinken Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American government official and diplomat serving as the 71st United States secretary of state since January 26, 2021. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and ...

and

Defense Secretary The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is a high ranking member of the federal cabinet. DoDD 5100.1: Enclosure 2: a The s ...

Lloyd Austin Lloyd James Austin III (born August 8, 1953) is a retired United States Army four-star general who, since his appointment on January 22, 2021, has served as the 28th United States secretary of defense. He is the first African American to serv ...

, and the South Korean foreign ministry released a statement the following day addressing the shooting and the United States government's anti-hate crime efforts. On April 14, following the shootings and the overall rise in anti-Asian hate crimes, the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

voted 92–6 to advance the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which would allow the

U.S. Justice Department The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United States ...

to review hate crimes related to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and establish an online database. On April 22, the Senate voted 94–1 to pass the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act with bipartisan changes;

Josh Hawley Joshua David Hawley (born December 31, 1979) is an American politician and lawyer who has served as the junior United States senator from Missouri since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Hawley served as the 42nd attorney general of Mi ...

of Missouri was the only senator to vote in opposition. It then passed the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

by a 364–62 vote on May 18 and was signed into law by Biden on May 20.

Anti-Asian sentiment

Sociologist

Nancy Wang Yuen Nancy Wang Yuen () is an American sociologist. She is a professor of sociology at Biola University, where she has also been chair of the sociology department. She specializes in race and ethnicity in film, television, and new media, particularl ...

characterized the event as "part of a nationwide pattern of Asian

omen An omen (also called ''portent'') is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. It was commonly believed in ancient times, and still believed by some today, that omens bring divine messages fr ...

being disproportionately targeted in hate incidents", stating that the events took place in the context of an "intersection of racism and sexism" against Asian women, citing the

Page Act of 1875 The Page Act of 1875 (Sect. 141, 18 Stat. 477, 3 March 1875) was the first restrictive federal immigration law in the United States, which effectively prohibited the entry of Chinese women, marking the end of open borders. Seven years later, the ...

, and the portrayal of Asian women as prostitutes in media such as the movie ''

Full Metal Jacket ''Full Metal Jacket'' is a 1987 war drama film directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Herr and Gustav Hasford. The film is based on Hasford's 1979 novel ''The Short-Timers'' and stars Matthew M ...

'' and the stage play ''

Miss Saigon ''Miss Saigon'' is a stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera ''Madame Butterfly'', and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed rom ...

'' as examples. According to Stop Asian Hate, nearly 11,000 attacks against the Asian American community were reported just on the mere span from March 2020 to December 2021. The FBI has also discovered an upsurge in anti-Asian hate crimes since 2019.

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republicans have had a majority in the chamber since 2005. T ...

member

Sam Park Samuel Lauderdale Park (born October 1, 1985) is an American politician and lawyer, who was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in the 2016 elections. Another member,

Bee Nguyen Bee Nguyen (born July 18, 1981) is an American nonprofit executive and politician serving as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from the 89th district. A member of the Democratic Party, she was elected during a special election in D ...

, said that violence against Asian Americans has increased in the last year and identified as a causative factor

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

's use of the term "Chinese Virus" to refer to

. Asian-American basketball player

Jeremy Lin Jeremy Shu-How Lin (born August 23, 1988) is a Taiwanese-American professional basketball player who last played for the Guangzhou Loong Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He unexpectedly led a winning turnaround with the Ne ...

accused Trump's rhetoric of inciting bitter hatred. A number of other athletes and public figures also made statements alleging racist motives in the attacks. The attacks were widely covered by

media in South Korea The South Korean mass media consist of several different types of public communication of news: television, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, and Internet-based websites. Modern Korean journalism began after the opening of Korea in the late 19 ...

, which has close cultural ties with the United States, especially through the 1.8 million

Korean Americans Korean Americans are Americans of Korean ancestry (mostly from South Korea). In 2015, the Korean-American community constituted about 0.56% of the United States population, or about 1.82 million people, and was the fifth-largest Asian American ...

considered part of the

Korean diaspora The Korean diaspora (South Korea: or , North Korea: or ) consists of around 7.3 million people, both descendants of early emigrants from the Korean Peninsula, as well as more recent emigres from Korea. Around 84.5% of overseas Koreans live in ...

. ''

The Hankyoreh ''The Hankyoreh'' (, literally "The Korean Nation" or "One Nation") is a centre-left liberal daily newspaper in South Korea. It was established in 1988 after widespread purges forced out dissident journalists, and was envisioned as an alternati ...

'' called for American society to accept "the serious reality of racial bullying and hate crimes" and take steps to ensure everyone's safety regardless of race. The ''

Kyunghyang Shinmun The ''Kyunghyang Shinmun'' or ''Kyonghyang Sinmun'' is a major daily newspaper published in South Korea. It is based in Seoul. The name literally means ''Urbi et Orbi Daily News''.

'' said the United States was "defenseless to racist attacks", while ''

Segye Ilbo ''Segye Ilbo'' (; ) is a Korean language newspaper. The newspaper is owned by News World Communications, which was established by the Unification Church The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification C ...

'' called for "effective measures so that crimes against humanity do not take root" in the United States. Mainstream American English-language media was criticized for its coverage of the shooting compared to American Korean-language and South Korean media. Issues brought up included that the former was focused more on the shooter's background, ignored the victims, and immediately dismissed racial motivations after the shooter and law enforcement claimed it was sexually motivated, while the latter instead focused on the victims, interviewed community figures and people who knew the victims, and looked at previous racist and anti-Chinese statements made by the shooter. The shootings prompted the

Chinese Canadian National Council The Chinese Canadian National Council (CCNC) (french: Conseil national des Canadiens chinois pour la justice sociale), known in the Chinese-Canadian community as Equal Rights Council (平權會), is an organization whose purpose is to promote eq ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

chapter and other groups to issue a statement calling for action against rising anti-Asian sentiment in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic and the discrimination and violence faced by Asian workers in massage parlors and the sex industry. On March 23, the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

unanimously passed a motion introduced by

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

leader

Jagmeet Singh Jagmeet Singh Jimmy Dhaliwal ( ; born January 2, 1979) is a Canadian politician who has served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) since 2017. Singh has sat as the member of Parliament (MP) for Burnaby South since 2019.Tracy Quan Tracy, Tracey, or Tracie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tracy (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname, also encompassing spelling variations Places United States * Tracy, C ...

commented on the incident from her perspective as an Asian American and a former sex worker: "Untangling the suspect's motive isn't easy when race and sex are competing to dominate the narrative... I've experienced bias and ethnic profiling, but I've also been a sex worker, and I have encountered more prejudice, more name-calling, more fear, bitterness, anger and hostility in connection with my sex work than regarding my race."

Hate crime debate

The shootings sparked fears of lack of security among owners and employees of Asian-owned businesses across the U.S., a debate over hate crime definitions, and criticism of the current methods used to aggregate hate crime data in the country. The

New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

deployed counterterrorism officers to Asian American communities as a precaution due to the shootings. Police patrols and community outreach efforts were also increased in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. Long's statements that the shootings were not racially motivated but rather motivated by an intent to lash out at sources of temptation have spurred widespread skepticism, with members of the

Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) is a caucus consisting of members of the United States Congress who are Asian American and Pacific Islander ( AAPI), and who have a strong interest in advocating and promoting issues and ...

citing the nature of the targeted locations and the ethnicity of many of the victims. State Representative Nguyen argued that Long should be charged with a hate crime, noting that a racial motivation would not be necessary for his actions to qualify as a hate crime, since the law also applies to those who specifically target women.

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Joe Biden also condemned the attacks as a hate crime, and expressed his support for hate crimes legislation recently introduced into Congress. U.S. Representative

Marilyn Strickland Marilyn Strickland (born September 25, 1962) is an American politician who is the U.S. representative from Washington's 10th congressional district. The district is based in the state capital of Olympia, and also includes much of eastern Tacoma ...

, a Korean American from

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

, said from the

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

floor that racially-motivated hate crimes should be called out instead of "making excuses and rebranding it as economic anxiety or sexual addiction." Li Zhou, writing for '' Vox'', argued that no matter whether or not the crimes were due to sexual addiction, the main motive would nonetheless coincide with factors of race and gender, since the stereotype of Asian female spa workers being prostitutes would in and of itself be a racist, misogynistic line of thinking. On March 18, the

held a previously-scheduled congressional hearing on anti-Asian American discrimination, where Representative

Chip Roy Charles Eugene "Chip" Roy (born August 7, 1972) is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Texas's . A member of the Republican Party, Roy took office on January 3, 2019. Before his election to Congress, he s ...

(R-TX) questioned whether the committee's attempts to prevent hate crimes and hate incidents against Asian Americans would hamper free speech. He claimed, "It seems to want to venture into the policing of rhetoric in a free society." His statement prompted criticism from Democrats.

Andrew Sullivan Andrew Michael Sullivan (born 10 August 1963) is a British-American author, editor, and blogger. Sullivan is a political commentator, a former editor of ''The New Republic'', and the author or editor of six books. He started a political blog, ' ...

criticized speculation in the media about Long's motives and the assertion that his actions constitute a hate crime, saying that the media is "rushing to promote ready-made narratives, which actually point away from the empirical facts." Elizabeth Nolan Brown, writing in ''

Reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...

'', said that Long's motives were "still unclear, despite many in the media attributing it to anti-Asian racism". Deborah Epstein, director of

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

’s Domestic Violence Clinic, claimed in an interview for

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

: "This man targeted his victims because they were Asian, and he targeted his victims because they were women. And we have to shed the blinders that limit us to seeing the race piece, but not the gender piece of hate."

Gun reform

Several politicians expressed concern with how easy it was for Long to obtain a gun on the day of the shooting, with the Giffords Law Center saying he would have completed the required background check within 100 seconds. Georgia state senator Michelle Au commented, "It is easier to buy a gun here than it is to vote." Advocates said a waiting period in Georgia could have prevented spontaneous violence. The day after the killings, Satirical news site ''

The Onion ''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is based in Chicago but originated as a weekly print publication on August 2 ...

'' republished its 'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens article, with minor alterations to reflect the particular incident, as it routinely does in the aftermath of high-profile mass shootings. Calls for gun reform were renewed when a shooting in Boulder, Colorado, occurred six days later.

Senate Majority Leader The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding t ...

Chuck Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, having held his seat since 1999, and ...

(D-NY) said the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

"must and will move forward on legislation to help stop the epidemic of gun violence". Asian American state legislators and the family of one of the victims met to discuss gun reform on May 4.

Criticism of sheriff's captain's phrasing

During a press conference on the shootings, Captain Jay Baker of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department paraphrased what Long told investigators about his motives, saying "he was pretty much fed up and kind of at the end of his rope, and I guess it was a really bad day for him and this is what he did." The phrase "really bad day" attracted criticism and led to the discovery of Baker's anti-Chinese sentiments on

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, thereby calling the integrity of the investigation into question. He has allegedly shared a Facebook post of t-shirts with the message "Covid 19 imported virus from Mainland Chy-na". Observers said he was a sympathizer with Long. Georgia State Senator Michelle Au said Baker's remarks showed that law enforcement handled crimes against particular groups differently. Representative

Ted Lieu Ted W. Lieu (; born March 29, 1969) is an American politician and Air Force Reserve Command colonel who has represented California's 33rd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2015. The district includes much of weste ...

(D-Calif.) called for the FBI to conduct its own independent investigation, saying that he believed the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office investigation would be unfair because of Baker's press conference remarks and Facebook post. Vincent Pan, a co-executive director of the civil rights group

Chinese for Affirmative Action Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA) is a San Francisco-based advocacy organization. Founded in 1969, its initial goals were equality of access to employment and the creation of job opportunities for Chinese Americans. The group broadened its missio ...

, said that Baker's involvement undermined Asian-American confidence that the investigation would be taken seriously. On March 18, Sheriff Reynolds of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office released a letter that acknowledged the criticism, expressed regret over Baker's words, and contextualized the remarks by pointing to the "difficult task" that Baker had and Baker's personal connections to the Asian-American community. The letter did not address Baker's Facebook post. Later that day, Baker was removed from his spokesman role in the investigation. According to

WSB-TV WSB-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is the flagship television property of locally based Cox Media Group, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister to rad ...

, the incident prompted the Cherokee County Sheriff Department to briefly consider handing off its role in the case to the

Georgia Bureau of Investigation The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is the state bureau of investigation of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is an independent, statewide agency that provides assistance to Georgia's criminal justice system in the areas of criminal investiga ...

Protests

WSP Vigil for Asian Americans (51056486608)

Oscillations of violence against the Asian American community has sparked

social movement A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of group action and may ...

across the U.S., with

anti-racist Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate ...

messaging such as "Stop Asian Hate" becoming more prevalent. On March 21, thousands participated in protests in Atlanta,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, denouncing anti-Asian sentiment and

hate crimes A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demograph ...

. Red Canary Song, an Asian and migrant massage parlor worker rights organization, has also protested against some of the proposed solutions which they view as counter-productive, such as increased policing and pressure to shutdown massage parlors entirely. Alternatively, they have promoted efforts to de-stigmatize massage parlors, advocated for

decriminalization of sex work The decriminalization of sex work is the removal of criminal penalties for sex work (specifically, prostitution). Sex work, the consensual provision of sexual services for money or goods, is criminalized in most countries. Decriminalization is di ...

, and encouraged positive cultural changes that would affirm the dignity of massage parlor workers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atlanta spa shootings, 2021 Spa shootings 2021 in Georgia (U.S. state) 2021 mass shootings in the United States 2020s crimes in Georgia (U.S. state) Asian-American history Asian-American issues Asian-American-related controversies Attacks on buildings and structures in 2021 Attacks on buildings and structures in the United States Deaths by firearm in Georgia (U.S. state) March 2021 crimes in the United States March 2021 events in the United States Mass shootings in Georgia (U.S. state) Mass shootings in the United States Mass murder in 2021 Sexual addiction Spree shootings in the United States 2021 active shooter incidents in the United States