White House commemorates anniversary of Atlanta spa shootings

Washington, March 17

The White House commemorated the one-year anniversary of a deadly shooting spree in the metropolitan area of Atlanta in the southeastern state of Georgia.

On March 16, 2021, Robert Aaron Long, a male white gunman, killed eight people at three spas in Atlanta, six of whom were women of Asian descent.

US President Joe Biden tweeted on Wednesday that the gunman targeted Asian-run businesses, Xinhua news agency reported.

"As we honor the victims, we must work to build a future where no one fears violence," he wrote.

Later in the day, Biden signed the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act at the White House.

"This law broke the dam of congressional resistance and cultural resistance and it brought this hidden epidemic out of the shadows," Biden said in his remarks.

Vice President Kamala Harris also marked the anniversary, called the shootings "a horrific attack."

"We must do everything we can to ensure all Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities are safe from violence, discrimination, and fear," Harris noted.

Long was charged with dozens of crimes. He had pleaded guilty to charges filed by Cherokee County and was sentenced to life without parole.

Research published earlier this year found that hate crimes targeting the Asian American community have reached new levels in the United States.

The compilation of hate crime data, published by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, revealed that anti-Asian hate crime increased by 339 per cent last year compared to the year before.