Hundreds of demonstrators have gathered outside the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta in support of the Asian community, after a shooting that left eight people dead, six of them Asian women.
Demonstrators take to the streets of Atlanta to show support for Asian and Pacific Islander communities on March 20, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia, after a series of shootings at three spas. Photo: AFP
The killings at three Atlanta day spas followed a year of mounting anti-Asian violence in the United States, which community leaders say is due to Asians being blamed for the Covid-19 virus first identified in Wuhan, China in late 2019.
On Saturday morning local time crowds of people wearing masks waved American flags and carried posters that read "We are not the virus" and "Stop Asian Hate".
"The women who perished, ... I see my family in them," said Timothy Phan from Port St. Lucie, Florida, who drove eight hours to attend the rally. "I feel like far too often, we're just erased."
Georgia Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, both Democrats elected in January, attended the rally in support of the demonstrators and led them in a moment of silence for the victims.
"We gather today to honour and remember those who lost their lives and to demand justice," Ossoff said. "Let us build a state and a nation where no one lives in fear because of who they are or where they or their family come from."
Georgia authorities have yet to determine what drove the 21-year-old white man who was charged with the killings that unfolded on Tuesday. Robert Aaron Long told investigators sex addiction led him to violence, but lawmakers and anti-racism advocates have said anti-Asian bias could have been at least part of the motivation.
Some of the women killed were immigrants and mothers, described by family and friends as hard-working, loving and beloved.
Marchers in Atlanta, showing support for the Asian community. Photo: AFP
Since Tuesday, mourners have piled flower bouquets and signs, lit candles and said prayers outside the spas where the victims were killed.
Hyun Jung Grant was among those killed at Gold Spa. Her son, Randy Park, said he was now working on planning a funeral for her, and had set up a GoFundMe page to help raise money for himself and his younger brother to afford a place to live and food.
He said the brothers are alone now in the United States while the rest of their family is in South Korea.
"She was a single mother who dedicated her whole life to providing for my brother and I," Park wrote.
"She was one of my best friends and the strongest influence on who we are today."
A day later, more than $2.5 million dollars had been donated to the fund, and Park updated the site to say he was astounded and grateful for the support, which he said would give the brothers "a second chance".
US lawmakers decried the spike in anti-Asian violence in a congressional hearing on Thursday, where Democratic Representative Grace Meng, who is of Taiwanese descent, testified that the "community is bleeding."
On Friday, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with Asian American community leaders in Georgia to express condolences and implore Americans to stand together against hate.
- Reuters