The man accused of killing six Asian women and two others in a shooting at a spa in the Atlanta area shared a photo of a racist T-shirt on social media earlier in the day, a Georgia sheriff’s official said.
In an April 2020 Facebook post, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Captain Jay Baker shared a picture of the T-shirt and wrote, based on Corona’s beer label, that “the virus imported from Covid 19 CHY-NA.”
“Love my shirt,” Baker wrote. “Get yours when they walk.”
Baker did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but after BuzzFeed News asked about the shirt, a public Facebook post became unavailable.
In his press conference on Wednesday’s shooting, police said it was too early to determine if the suspect was sexually motivated, but added that the suspect told authorities he had sexual addiction issues and was targeting businesses because he wanted to “get out.” ”Temptation. ”
As director of communications and community relations at the sheriff’s office fee, Baker was among the law enforcement speakers who provided updates on the investigation.
Speaking to reporters about the suspect’s revelations for the shooting, which he allegedly admitted, Baker said it was a “really bad day” for the shooter.
Amid growing incidents of hatred against Asian Americans, there has been widespread criticism of his remarks and the authorities’ decision to focus on the suspect’s statement.
A report released by Stop AAPI Hate on Tuesday found nearly 3,800 hate incidents targeting Asian Americans last year, part of which was due to a racist boycott on COVID-19. During the epidemic, former President Donald Trump repeatedly referred to the disease as “China virus” and “Kung flu”.
Incidents documented by the group involved 68% verbal harassment, and 11% physical assault. The report also found that women had more than twice as many attacks as men.
