US: Man charged with killing 8 people at Georgia massage parlours
Atlanta (US), Mar 18: A white gunman was charged with killing eight people at three Atlanta-area massage parlours in an attack that sent terror through the Asian American community, which has increasingly been targeted during the coronavirus pandemic.
A day after the shootings, investigators were trying to unravel what might have compelled 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long to commit the worst mass killing in the US in almost two years.
Long told police that Tuesday's attack was not racially motivated. He claimed to have a sex addiction, and authorities said he apparently lashed out at what he saw as sources of temptation. But those statements spurred outrage and widespread scepticism given the locations and that six of the eight victims were women of Asian descent.
The shootings appear to be at the intersection of gender-based violence, misogyny and xenophobia, state Rep. Bee Nguyen said, the first Vietnamese American to serve in the Georgia House and a frequent advocate for women and communities of colour.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said that regardless of the shooter's motivation, it is unacceptable, it is hateful and it has to stop.
Authorities said they didn't know if Long ever went to the massage parlors where the shootings occurred but that he was heading to Florida to attack some type of porn industry.
He apparently has an issue, what he considers a sex addiction, and sees these locations as something that allows him to go to these places, and it's a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate, Cherokee County sheriff's Capt. Jay Baker told reporters.
Sheriff Frank Reynolds said it was too early to tell if the attack was racially motivated but the indicators right now are it may not be.
The Atlanta mayor said police have not been to the massage parlours in her city beyond a minor potential theft.
We certainly will not begin to blame victims, Bottoms said.
The attack was the sixth mass killing this year in the US, and the deadliest since the August 2019 Dayton, Ohio, shooting that left nine people dead, according to a database compiled by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University.
It follows a lull in mass killings during the pandemic in 2020, which had the smallest number of such attacks in more than a decade, according to the database, which tracks mass killings defined as four or more dead, not including the shooter.
The killings horrified the Asian American community, which saw the shootings as an attack on them, given a recent wave of assaults that coincided with the spread of the coronavirus across the United States. The virus was first identified in China, and then-President Donald Trump and others have used racially charged terms to describe it.
The attacks began when five people were shot at Youngs Asian Massage Parlor near Woodstock, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Atlanta, authorities said. Four died: 33-year-old Delaina Ashley Yaun, 54-year-old Paul Andre Michels, 44-year-old Daoyou Feng and 49-year-old Xiaojie Tan, who owned the business.
Yaun and her husband came to the spa on a date, her mother, Margaret Rushing, told WAGA-TV. Yaun leaves behind a 13-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter.
Her half-sister, Dana Toole, said Yaun's husband locked himself in a room and wasn't injured.
He's taking it hard, Toole said. He was there. He heard the gunshots and everything. You can't escape that when you're in a room and gunshots are flying what do you do?
The manager of a boutique next door said her husband watched surveillance video after the shooting and the suspect was sitting in his car for as long as an hour before going inside.
They heard screaming and women running from the business, said Rita Barron, manager of Gabby's Boutique.
The same car was then spotted about 30 miles (48 kilometers) away in Atlanta, where a call came in about a robbery at Gold Spa and three women were shot to death. Another woman was fatally shot at the Aromatherapy Spa across the street.
Long was arrested hours later by Crisp County deputies and state troopers. He refused to stop on a highway and officers bumped the back of his car, causing him to crash, Sheriff Billy Hancock said.
Officers found Long thanks to help from his parents, who recognised him from surveillance footage posted by authorities and gave investigators his cellphone information, which they used to track him, said Reynolds, the Cherokee County sheriff.
President Joe Biden said the FBI briefed him and noted that Asian Americans are concerned about a recent rise in violence, which he has previously condemned.
I think it is very, very troublesome, but I am making no connection at this moment to the motivation of the killer, Biden said in the Oval Office.
Vice President Kamala Harris expressed support to the Asian American community after the tragic shooting and offered condolences to the victims' families.
We're not yet clear about the motive. But I do want to say to our Asian American community that we stand with you and understand how this has frightened and shocked and outraged all people, said Harris, the first Black and South Asian woman in that position.
Nico Straughan met Long when he moved to the area in seventh grade, saying Long brought a Bible to school every day and was super nice, super Christian, very quiet.
I don't know what turn of heart he might have had, but he went from one of the nicest kids I ever knew in high school to being on the news, Straughan said. I mean, all my friends, we were flabbergasted.
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TVK chief Vijay makes string of promises for women, gold for marriage, monthly aid of Rs 2,500
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Chennai (PTI): TVK chief Vijay on Saturday announced a slew of promises for women, including a monthly financial aid of Rs 2,500, a sovereign gold with silk saree as wedding gift to young women, and six LPG cylinders free for all families, if his party was voted to power in the upcoming state assembly election.
The monthly assistance would be provided to all women except government employees, upto the age of 60, when his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam comes to power, Vijay said at the International Women's Day event held under the aegis of TVK at Mamallapuram near here.
The six LPG cylinders would be provided annually under the 'Annapurani super six scheme'.
In order to ensure zero dropout in schools, each mother or guardian would be provided an annual financial assistance of Rs 15,000 under the 'Kamarajar Kalvi Uruthi Thittam'.
Ensuring safety for women in public transport, Vijay in his 20 minute speech, said smart panic buttons would be established in buses.
To serve girl students, he said free sanitary pads would be provided through ration shops, schools and in colleges.
Vijay also announced interest-free allocation of upto Rs 5 lakh for women Self-Help Groups.
The actor-politician assured that every new born child born in Tamil Nadu would receive a gold ring and a baby welcome kit, comprising baby powder, baby oil, diapers, as the state government's 'Ashirwad' (blessing).
He announced free bus travel in all state government-run buses for women, zero tolerance for crimes against women, dedication of 'Rani Velu Nachiyar' unit in police to ensure safety for women, and special fast-track courts for expeditious disposal of cases of crimes against women.
Vijay also hit out at the ruling DMK, alleging that a "30 per cent Stalin sir tax of loot and corruption was taking place out of the state's Rs 4.39 lakh crore budget".
These poll assurances can be implemented by a 'graft-free super-good regime", he added.
Earlier, he honoured football coach Thamimunissa Jabbar, biker Maya, Ashwetha a first-generation graduate and Harvard Kennedy School alumna from Tamil Nadu, organic farmer Archana Stalin, Grace Banu, software engineer and Dalit transgender activist, ISRO scientist Kalpana, and CEO Ilavarasi, at the event.
He greeted the women invited to the stage at the Women's Day event organised by the TVK.
Later, he also posed for a group picture with the awardees.
