Status: 17.03.2021 7:47 p.m.
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Eight dead, six of them with Asian roots – the motive of the shooter from Atlanta is still completely unclear. Even so, a debate about hatred of Asian citizens has broken out.
Julia Kastein, ARD-Studio Washington
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“We heard the shots across the street,” the witness told a CNN reporter, behind her the pink barracks of the “Gold Spa” massage studio, which was cordoned off with police tape. Three women had been shot here hours earlier. “They were such nice girls,” says the woman, “they gave great massages. It’s really unfortunate.”
Julia Kastein
ARD-Studio Washington
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The shock is great the morning after: within an hour, the alleged perpetrator had killed eight people in three massage and wellness spas in the greater Atlanta area – seven of them women, six with Asian roots. Then he fled by car.
Suspected perpetrator arrested
The police were only able to find and arrest him after a three-hour chase over 150 kilometers, says Jay Baker of the police in Cherokee County, north of Atlanta. In his district, the perpetrator, who also lived there, first struck and killed two women and two men, another was injured: “He is now under arrest. You could stop him and arrest him without any problems.”
Asking the “why”
The police assume a lone perpetrator. His motive was still unclear, said Atlanta police chief Rodney Bryant, at a press conference the day after: “We were asked if this was a hate crime. But we are still at the very beginning. We cannot say that yet.”
The suspect had been questioned that night, according to Frank Reynolds, Sheriff of Cherookee County. In doing so, he gave indications of problems and that he might be a sex addict. “And that he may have been a customer in these salons. But it is still too early, we are still at the very beginning.”
During the interrogation, the alleged gunman also said that his escape destination was Florida. He wanted to continue killing there if he hadn’t been stopped. The alleged perpetrator is to be brought before the judge on Thursday.
More violence against citizens of Asian descent
In the USA there has long been speculation about a racially motivated crime. Also because the number of verbal and violent attacks on citizens of Asian origin rose dramatically during the pandemic. There were over 3,000 between March 2020 and February 2021 – an increase of almost 2,000 percent. However, the alleged perpetrator himself denies having acted on racist reasons.
US President Biden, who had already been briefed on the events in Atlanta that morning, condemned the attacks on citizens of Asian origin as un-American in a speech last week. That has to stop – and immediately.
Ethnicity certainly played a role in this series of murders, says Cedric Alexander, former security chief of Fulton County, to which Atlanta belongs, on CNN: “People with Asian roots are being pigeonholed and blamed for the pandemic. Though it is is just wrong. “
The shadow of Trump?
The organization “Stop the hatred against Asians”, which documents such attacks, called the shots on women of Asian descent an incredible tragedy – for families and all people with Asian roots in the USA. Like many in the US, the group blames ex-President Trump for the overall rise in violence. Because he repeatedly blamed China for the pandemic and spoke of the “China virus” and “Kung Flu”.
Whatever the motive, it was going to be a tragic day for Atlanta, said city mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms: “Whether it’s senseless street violence or targeted violence like this one. An attack on any group of people is an attack on us all. “
Asian spas murders in Georgia, USA
Julia Kastein, ARD, March 17, 2021 7:56 p.m.
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