Winchester Officials Denounce Georgia Killings

WINCHESTER, MA — Winchester officials issued a statement on Thursday about the killing of eight people in several massage parlors in Atlanta, GA, six of the victims were Asian women. The statement is signed by Town Manager Lisa Wong and Police Chief Daniel O’Connell.

The statement is below:

“We condemn the senseless killings of eight innocent people in Georgia and offer our
condolences to the families of the victims. Six of the eight victims are Asian American
women, and this is part of a disturbing trend of increased violence against Asian
members of communities across the country since the beginning of the pandemic.
The Town of Winchester and the Winchester Police Department support Asian
Americans, and our fight against racism and xenophobia. The Massachusetts Civil
Rights Act protects all people against hate crimes, including threats, harassment,
violence, and other bias-motivated conduct. Unfortunately we know that hate crimes
against Asians can go unreported.

As leaders in municipal government and the police department, we take our
responsibility for providing a safe place for all residents seriously. This includes
partnering with residents and groups such as the Chinese American Network of
Winchester, the Network for Social Justice, and other groups to provide resources for
our community, and to re-examine how deeply ingrained biases affect our work.
Winchester is not immune to these incidents and we will continue to work to be an antiracist community.”

For resources, please visit the Massachusetts Asian American Commission’s webpage
at https://www.aacommission.org/. Please report any crimes to the Winchester Police
Department at (781) 721-1212."