Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday condemned attacks on Asian Americans after a string of assaults on Atlanta massage parlors that left eight people dead.
While Ms. Harris acknowledged that shooting suspect Robert Aaron Long’s motivation for the attacks is unknown, she urged Americans to speak out against assaults on Asian Americans.
Authorities said most of the eight people killed at the massage parlors Tuesday night were Asian, and only two victims were White.
“I do want to say to our Asian American community that we stand with you and understand how this has frightened and shocked and outraged all people,” Ms. Harris said. “But knowing the increasing level of hate crime against our Asian American brothers and sisters, we also want to speak out in solidarity with them and acknowledge that none of us should ever be silent in the face of any form of hate.”
Police officials said Wednesday they don’t believe the shootings were racially motivated. Instead, they said Mr. Long allegedly opened fire because he saw the locations as “an outlet for him” to give into his purported sex addiction.
Mr. Long, 21, was on his way to Florida when he was arrested Tuesday night. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said he was possibly planning “to carry out additional shootings.”
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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