Atlanta Spa Killings Elicit Grief, Resolve from AAPI Legislators

ATLANTA, GA — Flanked by a handful of other legislators and civil-rights activists, Georgia’s five Asian American and Pacific Islander state representatives and senators held a news conference at the state capitol Thursday, expressing grief and frustration over the shooting deaths at Atlanta-area spas.

“We’re heartbroken,” said Rep. Marvin Lim of Norcross.

“We stand a little bit scared and shaken, but we stand resilient,” said Stephanie Cho, executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, as she held back tears.

Among those present were Lim, Rep. Sam Par and Sen. Sheikh Rahman of Lawrenceville, Rep. Bee Nguyen of Atlanta and Sen. Michelle Au of Johns Creek.

Specifics have yet to be announced, but President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have said they will meet with representatives of the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community when they visit Atlanta Friday.

In a session that lasted about 20 minutes, the group spoke to the fact that six of eight victims were of Asian descent. They also addressed what made the victims so vulnerable, including gun laws in Georgia, lack of mental-health resources, the victims’ isolation and their status as massage-parlor workers.

“This was a violent and brutal act, targeting three Asian businesses, resulting in the deaths of six Asian women,” Nguyen said, “one that is laced with xenophobia, misogyny, gender-based violence and lax gun laws in the state of Georgia.”

Noting that at least two of the victims were older than 50 and likely lived in the spas where they worked, Nguyen said that made them especially vulnerable.

“Can you imagine being between 50 and 70 years old and living in one of these spas?” Nguyen asked.

“When they go missing or when they die, the loss of their lives will not incite the same kind of rage and they won’t even be treated with the same humanity,” she said. “And in this case, they’ve been characterized as a problem that needed to be eliminated.”

Several legislators pushed the idea of tighter gun laws. A Georgia bill requiring universal background checks for all gun sales and transfers is currently awaiting committee hearings.

“I think it’s hard in this moment to argue against even the most basic gun safety measures,” said Au, who co-sponsored the bill. “I’m hoping that this moment galvanizes us to move forward even in the smallest way.”

The also urged authorities to prosecute Robert Aaron Long, the accused killer of eight people at three Atlanta-area massage parlors under Georgia’s recently passed hate-crime law.

According to authorities, Long admitted shooting the eight victims and blamed them for feeding his sex addiction. But he stopped short of saying he targeted the victims because of their race.

Nguyen wasn’t buying it.

“When we think about taking the word of the perpetrator themselves, how many of them are going to admit that it was a racially motivated killing?” she asked.

She also took former President Donald Trump to task for stoking anti-Asian violence, which Nguyen said had risen 150 percent since the start of the pandemic.

Trump blaming China alone for the COVID-19 pandemic “gave permission to other elected officials and leaders to use that same rhetoric to put a target on our back,” Nguyen said.

Rahman was more direct.

“I ask you to stop spreading hate and lies against our Asian-American brothers and sisters,” Rahman said. “Be an American. Be a decent human being.”

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