Pingry School Stands With Asian Community After Atlanta Shootings

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — The Pingry School made a public announcement Thursday that it stands with the Asian-American Pacific Islander community. The message came in the wake of this week's Atlanta spa shootings that left eight dead. Many of the victims are of Asian descent.

The school called the killings "yet another reminder of the escalating violence that our AAPI community has been subjected to over the past year."

The school said the following:

"We are saddened and outraged by the most recent attacks on the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. News of the attacks in Atlanta, in which the majority of the victims were women of Asian descent, are yet another reminder of the escalating violence that our AAPI community has been subjected to over the past year. The violence against AAPIs underscores, yet again, the racial violence that has permeated the U.S. throughout history. Tragically, inflammatory and xenophobic rhetoric has put AAPI persons, families, communities, and businesses at risk for harm. We are unequivocal in our condemnation of racism, xenophobia, violence against women, and intolerance against the AAPI community. Moreover, our School’s commitment to advancing inclusion and belonging for all members of the community remains central to our mission.

"It is clear that we must continue to lift up the AAPI voices of Pingry and stand in solidarity with our AAPI community members. When we return from Spring Break, we will offer more opportunities for students to gather with faculty and staff to process these events as well as show their support to one another."

According to authorities, a gunman opened fire at three massage parlors across the metro Atlanta area. Cherokee County Sheriff's Capt. Jay Baker said the gunman — Robert Aaron Long — admitted to the killings and blamed the massage parlors for fueling his sex addiction.

Although many of the victims are of Asian descent, local officials have said it's too early to determine whether the shootings were racially motivated. Capt. Jay Baker, a Cherokee County (Georgia) Sheriff's Office spokesperson, said, "Yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did."

But many advocates have since expressed fear in the wake of the shootings, and have pointed to a reported rise in anti-Asian violence since the pandemic began. Organization STOP AAPI HATE found nearly 3,292 reported hate incidents against Asian American in 2020 and 503 so far this year.

With reporting from Eric Kiefer/Patch

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