Ga. lawmakers mark anniversary of metro Atlanta spa shootings
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Nearly three years after a deadly shooting spree at three metro Atlanta massage spas, of Georgia’s Legislative Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Caucus hosted a news conference Thursday commemorating the event which shook their communities.
Robert Aaron Long confessed to the murders, which happened at three massage spas, one in Cherokee County and two in Fulton County. Six of the eight victims were women of Asian descent.
“Literally, the day before March 16 of 2021, I had given a speech from the floor of the Senate warning people, alerting people in the Georgia State Senate that these incidents of anti-Asian hate were popping up all over the country,” said former State Sen. Michelle Au, a Democrat who’s now a State Representative representing Johns Creek.
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Au said the incident galvanized the AAPI communities of Georgia. Its legislature now has 11 of the AAPI Caucus, one of the largest in the country.
Long was 21 years old on March 16, 2021, when he purchased a gun and drove to Youngs Asian Massage in Cherokee County near Acworth where he shot five people. Four of them died.
Long told detectives he was motivated by a sexual addiction that conflicted with his religious beliefs. He said he targeted the spas because they were places where he had paid for sex.
Long was charged in two separate cases. He is currently serving a life sentence in Cherokee County after pleading guilty in that case. Fulton County authorities are seeking the death penalty where Long is still awaiting trial.
Long denied that ethnicity was a motivating factor, but many Asian-American groups don’t believe that. The killing spree was one of the main motivators of the “Stop Asian Hate” movement across the country.
“This was an attack on our Asian American community whether it’s called a hate crime or not,” said Victoria Huynh, founder of the Georgia AAPI Hub.
On Saturday, the third anniversary of the murders, Atlanta will be one of four cities hosting commemorative events.
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