Atlanta shooting suspect's church decries killings as 'wicked betrayal'
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[March 20, 2021]
By Rich McKay
ATLANTA (Reuters) - The Baptist church
where the suspect in this week's Atlanta-area spa killings was a member
issued a statement on Friday decrying the attack as a wicked betrayal of
faith and describing the eight victims, including six women of Asian
descent, as blameless.
Robert Aaron Long, 21, has been charged with eight counts of homicide in
Tuesday's fatal shooting of four people at two day spas in Atlanta and
four others at a massage parlor in Cherokee County, about 40 miles (64
km) north of the state capital.
In a statement, the Crabapple First Baptist Church in Milton, Georgia,
said Long's "extreme and wicked act is nothing less than rebellion
against our Holy God and His Word."
Investigators said Long had admitted carrying out the attacks, claiming
he was driven by internal conflict over what he described as a sex
addiction, not racial animus toward Asians.
But the rampage has stirred fear among Asian Americans, who see the
crimes as a part of a national surge in racially motivated attacks that
has accelerated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were due to visit
Atlanta on Friday to offer support to Asian-Americans and meet with
leaders of the area's growing Asian-American and Pacific Islander
community.
Authorities stressed they have not ruled out charging Long with hate
crimes even though Long claims that racial bias was not his motivation.
"Aaron's actions are antithetical to everything that we believe and
teach as a church. In the strongest possible terms, we condemn the
actions of Aaron Long as well as his stated reasons for carrying out
this wicked plan," said the church, where Long and his father were
members. "No blame can be placed upon the victims."
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Flowers, candles and signs lie at a makeshift memorial outside
Young's Asian Massage following the deadly shootings in Acworth,
Georgia, U.S. March 19, 2021. REUTERS/Bita Honarvar
A former roommate of Long's at a rehabilitation center said the
suspect would feel shame and remorse after frequenting massage
parlors for sex, then "return to God."
Fulton County officials on Thursday identified the four Atlanta
victims as Soon C. Park, 74, Hyun J. Grant, 51, Suncha Kim, 69, and
Yong A. Yue, 63. All were of Korean descent, according to South
Korea's consulate in Atlanta.
The Cherokee County victims were identified by authorities as:
Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33, Paul Andre Michels, 54, Xiaojie Tan, 49,
and Daoyou Feng, 44.
The Georgia killings have prompted police departments to step up
patrols and visibility in Asian-American communities around the
country. Hate crimes against Asian Americans in 16 major cities rose
149% in 2020 over 2019, according to the Center for the Study of
Hate and Extremism.
A former Cherokee County Sheriff's department spokesman who came
under criticism for saying Long had "a really bad day" and who had
previously promoted T-shirts blaming Asians for the pandemic has
been reassigned, the New York Times reported.
Captain Jay Baker, who is named as director of communications on the
sheriff's website, was replaced as by Erika Neldner, whose email
signature identifies her as communications director.
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Additional reporting by Daniel
Trotta in Vista, California; Editing by Alistair Bell)
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