Watch “AFRAID: Fear in Communities of Color” on Monday, March 22 at 9:00 pm ET – a special CNN report presented by Amara Walker, Ana Cabrera, Victor Blackwell and Anderson Cooper.
In Atlanta, several Korean congregations held a Korean language service outside the Gold Spa in honor of the victims, with some in attendance holding signs saying “Stop Asian Hatred.”
Pastor Byeong Cheol Han of Korea’s Central Presbyterian Church called the murders a “moment of awakening” for many Asian Americans. He stressed that this is a time to become more involved in social justice on behalf of all colored communities in the United States.
“It’s a moment of awakening for Asian Americans to stand strong. Rise and raise our voices. And join the social justice movement,” Han said. “A lot of Asian Americans tend to avoid that sort of thing, it’s not our business, we’re just focusing on our survival, but this is an awakening for us.”
The suspect who was arrested in the case told police that he was suffering from a sex addiction and that he wanted to remove the temptation. But Han said this act was clearly a hate crime. The suspect’s alleged sex addiction “was a very bad excuse. He aimed (at) very vulnerable people. Those who cannot resist.”
“It’s not just a young man’s deviation, or an isolated incident. This is clearly a racially motivated crime,” Han added.
Han said members of his congregation have been expressing complicated feelings, mostly fear and anger, since the murders.
Communities demand change
“The rhetoric and behavior of our national leaders has encouraged and fueled anti-Asian sentiment,” said Low, noting that the US has been pursuing policies that target and discriminate against Asian Americans, including the Chinese, for over 100 years. Exclusion Act of 1882 and Executive Order 9066 which ordered Americans of Japanese descent into internment camps in the 1940’s.
People attending a meeting in Columbus Park in New York City on Sunday told CNN they came out because they were tired of dealing with discrimination and hope the tragedy in Atlanta will bring about change.
When asked why she was there, Angela Eunsung Kim said, “Because I’m Asian and I’m a woman, and if I don’t stand up for myself, no one else will. So that’s why I’m here.”
“I want people to finally hear us, for us, not just when we’re trending,” she added. “I want to see change in the people around me, my friends, my, you know, work, everything, all the way from our neighbors to lawmakers. That’s the kind of change I want to see.”
Tiffany Wetherell said it’s time to listen to her community in the wake of the murders.
“I want to come out today to support the cause. I want to raise awareness,” she said. ‘I want everyone to know that we are not your symbolic Asian. We are not your Asian friend. We are everywhere. And it’s our turn to be heard. ‘
New York police reported 28 hate crime arrests against Asians in 2020, up from three in 2019 and two in 2018. Los Angeles police also reported an increase: 15 anti-Asian hate crimes were reported in 2020, up from seven in 2019 and 11 in 2018.
Lives lost in the shootings
He told police he believed he had a sex addiction and that he saw the spas as “a temptation … that he wanted to eliminate,” said Cherokee County Sheriff’s Captain Jay Baker. Long said the attacks were not racially motivated, Baker said.
The first shooting took place at Youngs Asian Massage in Acworth, shortly before 5:00 p.m. on March 16, authorities said.
Four people were killed in the first shooting: 49-year-old Xiaojie Tan from Kennesaw; Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33, from Acworth; Paul Andre Michels, 54, from Atlanta; and Daoyou Feng, 44. Elcias R. Hernandez-Ortiz, 30, of Acworth, was also shot but survived.
Within an hour of the first shooting, four more Asian women were killed in two spas on Piedmont Road in Atlanta; three at the Gold Massage Spa and one at the Aroma Therapy Spa across the street, authorities said. Those victims were identified as Soon Chung Park, 74; Hyun Jung Grant, 51; Suncha Kim, 69; and Yong Ae Yue, 63, according to the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office.
According to Kwangsuk Lee, South Korea’s deputy consulate general in Atlanta, one of the four victims in Atlanta was a South Korean citizen and a permanent resident of the US. The other three would be Americans of Korean ethnicity, Lee told CNN on Friday.
The families of the victims who have spoken out said they want justice for the senseless deaths of their loved ones.
“This was a bloodbath. We have a legal system and he will have to be held accountable,” Tan’s ex-husband Michael Webb told CNN on Sunday.
He said Tan worked seven days a week to save for retirement. “I’m sad it ended in an instant while she was hard at work,” Webb told CNN.
“She kept telling me, I’m going to retire soon,” Webb said. “She worked to die,” Webb said.
Webb told CNN that Tan protected her employees and sometimes kicked certain men out of the facility.
“She wanted to know where her employees were … who the customers were, she often told me she threw customers out because they came in thinking they could have sex,” explained Webb.
Suspect charged by church
After his arrest on Interstate 75 in South Georgia, Long is held without bail in Cherokee County, where he faces malicious murder four times, one attempted murder, one aggravated assault, and five a firearm. while committing a crime.
According to Atlanta police, he has been charged with four murders in connection with the two shootings at the Atlanta spas.
Investigations into the murders are underway and appropriate charges will be filed, Cherokee County District Attorney Shannon Wallace said last week.
Earlier in the week, the church released a longer statement saying they were “absolutely devastated by this senseless loss of life and heartless disregard for people created in the image of God.”
“We mourn the victims and their families, and we continue to pray for all affected by this heinous crime as they deal with unimaginable pain and grief,” they added, saying they were “absolutely distraught” to confront the suspect. discover in the dead were a member of their church.
“These unthinkable and blatant murders directly contradict his own creed in Jesus and the gospel,” the statement said.
CNN’s Melissa Alonso, Dakin Andone, Jason Carroll, Steve Machalek, Christina Maxouris, Yon Pomrenze, Anna Sturla and Holly Yan contributed to this report.