Celebrities unite in call to #StopAsianHate following Atlanta killings
Tuesday, news broke that suspected gunman Robert Aaron Long entered three Atlanta-area spas and killed eight people. The 21-year-old confessed to the attacks and has been charged:
As reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, six of the eight victims were Asian women. This brought deep-seated xenophobia—increased by the COVID-19 pandemic—and hatred toward the Asian-American community back to the forefront.
Several celebrities have joined the chorus publicly calling to #StopAsianHate, including George Takei, John Legend, Mindy Kaling, Shonda Rhimes, Padma Lakshmi and Dwyane Wade:
Long blamed the crime on his sex addiction and the spas representing a "temptation he wanted to eliminate" (h/t AJC), and local police have not officially classified the murders as a hate crime.
More information on anti-asian violence resources can be found here.
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