After the deadly series of attacks in the greater Atlanta area in the southern US state of Georgia, President Joe Biden strongly condemned hatred and racism. “Hate must not have a safe haven in America. It has to stop,” demanded Biden during a visit to Atlanta. The democratic statesman called for discrimination and racism not to be left unchallenged and thus to be tolerated. “Because our silence makes us accomplices. We mustn’t be accomplices,” he emphasized.
“Racism is a fact in America”
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, whose mother once immigrated to the United States from India, met with representatives of the Asian community in Atlanta. “Racism is and always has been a fact in America,” Harris said. All people should be perceived as Americans and not as members of a particular group, she said.
In the USA, after the attacks in Atlanta, the discussion about increasing discrimination against Americans of Asian origin flared up again. After former President Donald Trump often referred to the corona virus as the “China virus”, many US citizens of Asian descent reported that they were increasingly exposed to hostility and violence.
Eight people shot
Eight people were shot dead in three massage studios in and around Atlanta on Tuesday. Six of the eight fatalities were of Asian origin and seven were women. One man survived seriously injured.
A corpse is brought from the Gold Spa massage studio
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According to the police, the 21-year-old white suspect rejected a racist motive. He said that in the fight against his sex addiction he wanted to “eliminate” a temptation that had brought him into conflict with his strict religious beliefs. The authorities have not yet confirmed his motive.
Almost 3800 attacks on Americans of Asian descent
During his visit to Atlanta, Biden criticized that the attacks on people of Asian descent in the USA had “skyrocketed”. A report by the Stop AAPI Hate (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) organization, founded in 2020, confirms this. It was released on the day of the attack. After that, almost 3800 attacks were registered, women were affected more often than the average.
By order of the President, the flags on the White House and other public buildings should remain at half-mast until Monday. Vigils were held in several larger cities. Police in New York, Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco, and other locations increased their patrols in neighborhoods with large Asian-American populations.
se / wa (afp, ap, dpa, rtr)
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