Vice President Kamala Harris marked the three-year anniversary of the Atlanta-area spa shootings, in which eight people were killed, paying tribute to the victims of the “hate-fueled gun violence.” Six of the victims were Asian women.
Harris wrote a letter to Atlanta community members, which was read aloud Saturday at a remembrance event and vigil organized by nonprofit Asian Justice Movement.
“On March 16, 2021, an act of senseless gun violence took the lives of Yong Ae Yue, Daoyou Feng, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie Emily Tan, Delaina Ashley Yaun, Suncha Kim, Soon Chung Park, and Hyun Jung Grant,” Harris said in the letter, read at the vigil by Erika L. Moritsugu, deputy assistant to the president and Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander senior liaison.
“As we honor and remember those individuals who lost their lives and support the survivors, we recognize that hate-fueled gun violence must not prevent us from fulfilling our Nation’s promise of freedom and justice for all,” the letter continued.
Robert Aaron Long, now 24, was sentenced to life without parole in Cherokee County after he pleaded guilty to shooting five people in 2021 at Young’s Asian Massage, four of whom died. While he allegedly continued the rampage in Fulton County, where four women were shot and killed at Gold Spa and Aromatherapy Spa, he pleaded not guilty to those charges. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is pursuing hate crime charges and the death penalty for Long. His attorneys have argued in court filings he is too young to be sentenced to death.
The shooting sparked outrage from the Asian American community, galvanizing many to speak out against the racism and violence directed at the group, particularly at the height of the pandemic.
“In America, no matter who you are and no matter where your ancestors came from, you should be able to go to work or walk down the street and feel safe,” Harris wrote.
Harris went on to say that the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities has only continued to experience hate and discrimination.
“Let us rededicate to joining together to help our communities prevent, respond, and recover from acts of hateful violence,” Harris said. “When we stand together, we show the world that we all have so much more in common than what separates us.”
The vice president was one of several officials and lawmakers who honored the Atlanta-area shooting victims, including the members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. In her remarks, Rep. Judy Chu, chair of the caucus, said the horrific slaying was “not an accident.”
“It was a targeted attack that was a direct result of the xenophobic, anti-Asian rhetoric that had proliferated at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Chu, a Democrat from California, said. “We cannot let another family or community be torn apart like this, and we must keep working to rebuild a sense of safety for AANHPIs and all Americans across the country.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
