(Reuters) – Hundreds of people gathered outside the Capitol in Atlanta, Georgia, United States on Saturday in support of the Asian American community after eight people, including six women of Asian descent, were killed in multiple shootings at area massage parlors on Tuesday.
These attacks follow a year of rising anti-Asian violence in the United States, which community leaders say is due to Asian Americans being held responsible for the COVID-19 outbreak , with the virus first identified in Wuhan, China in late 2019.
The crowd of protesters, wearing masks, waving American flags and holding up signs reading “We are not the virus” or “Stop the hatred against Asians” stood in front of the Capitol building .
“I want to let the world and the people know that I am here, that I am visible,” said Sunghee Han, a protester from the state of Georgia.
Timothy Phan, from Florida, drove for eight hours to participate in the rally.
“These women who were killed, I think of my family when I see them,” he told CNN. “I have the feeling that too often we are erased.”
Democratic Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossof, elected last January, participated in a moment of silence in tribute to the victims.
“Let’s build a state and a nation where no one lives in fear because of who they are or where they or their family are from,” said Jon Ossoff.
Georgia state authorities have yet to determine the reasons behind the gesture of the suspect, Robert Aaron Long, a 21-year-old white man.
(Gabriella Borter; French version Camille Raynaud)
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