ATLANTA (CBS46) – The man who was indicted in the Atlanta Spa shootings is now due for trial on April 19th. The prosecutor wants to petition Fulton County for the death penalty for Robert Aaron Long.
He is already guilty of four of the eight murders in Cherokee County. Six of the victims were of Asian descent. Many call it a hate crime.
Violent attacks against Asian Americans have increased since the pandemic began more than a year ago.
“I spoke to the family and said, ‘Listen. This is a very difficult time,'” said Bjay Pak, the former Georgia US attorney who represents the families of the victims of the spa shooting.
The bad murders became the deadliest massacre in Georgia since 1999.
CBS46 Investigates has reviewed the schedule of events. In March, Robert Aaron Long buys a gun in Holy Springs, north of Atlanta.
He drives to Young’s Asian Massage Parlor near Acworth.
4:54 p.m.: Investigators and lawyers say Long starts filming. Xiaojie “Emily” Tan; Daoyou Feng; Delaina Yaun and Paul Michels were all killed.
Elcias Hernandez-Ortiz injured.
5:47 pm: 30 miles away, more shots, this time in Atlanta.
Yong Ae Yue; Soon Chung Park; Suncha-Kim; and Hyun Jung Grant. All four were shot dead at the Gold Spa and Aromatherapy Spa.
“It’s pretty obvious that in 6 out of 8 victims who are Asian women, something is definitely abnormal,” said Pak.
Fear of racial bias.
“We felt this pain,” said Cynthia Choi, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate.
Community leaders for Stop AAPI Hate were shocked at the news.
“It was personally very traumatizing that local law enforcement could have motivated this through race,” Choi said.
The Cherokee Sheriff’s Office spokesman – took on a different tone.
“The suspect took responsibility for the shootings,” said Captain Jay Baker of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.
Baker was reluctant to label it a “hate crime”.
“He claims it wasn’t racially motivated,” Baker said. “Yesterday was a really bad day for him and he did.”
Some felt the targeted violence was downplayed.
“The way they were characterized and the way they expressed what was going on was even more damaging to the community,” said Pak.
Currently, only an estimated 17% of law enforcement agencies in Georgia pursue hate crimes, according to data compiled by the Anti-Defamation League
“Not enough is being reported,” said Pak.
And according to Georgia Bureau of Investigation records, officials across the state did not report a single hate crime against Asians and Asian Americans in 2019, 2020, and 2021.
“This was just another example of how Asian Americans have always been the silent minority and have been forgotten,” Pak said
For so many families, they say that the lack of statistics means that the history of the prejudice incidents is largely unrecognized and, worse, ignored.
“I think if there is one thing we should take away from this March 16 tragedy is that the AAPI community and our allies should stop being silent,” Pak said.
