President Joe Biden avoided connecting the motives of the Atlanta mass shooter to racism on Wednesday, despite Democrats around the country blaming a growing anti-Asian sentiment in the country for the attack.
“I think it is very, very, troublesome, but I am making no connection at this moment for the motivation of the killer,” Biden said.
The Atlanta shooting suspect is accused of killing eight people in three different massage parlors. Six of the victims were women of Asian descent.
Law enforcement officials told reporters Wednesday the suspect said he targeted the businesses for providing an outlet for his sexual “addiction.”
“It’s a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate,” Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Captain Jay Baker said hours earlier. “He said it was not racially motivated.”
Biden said he would wait until a full federal investigation of the crimes was concluded.
The president said he was “very concerned” about the tragic event, noting he had repeatedly and publicly called for attacks on Asian-Americans to stop.
Democrats reacted immediately to condemn the attacks as a racist hate crime fueled by white supremacy and blamed former President Donald Trump referring to the coronavirus as the “Wuhan Flu” and the “China Virus.”
The former President used racist phrases like Kung Flu that inflamed discrimination against the Asian American community. Officials that continue to use ethnic identifiers in describing the virus are part of the problem. Please instead be a part of the solution. #StopAsianHate https://t.co/xxg3A12aAH
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) March 17, 2021
Rep. Judy Chu also suggested “hateful rhetoric” like Trump’s may have fueled the attack.
As we wait for more details to emerge, I ask everyone to remember that hurtful words and rhetoric have real life consequences. Please stand up, condemn this violence, and help us #StopAsianHate (2/2)
— Judy Chu (@RepJudyChu) March 17, 2021
Former President Barack Obama also suggested the attacks were racially motivated.
“Although the shooter’s motive is not yet clear, the identity of the victims underscores an alarming rise in anti-Asian violence that must end,” he wrote on Twitter.
Even as we’ve battled the pandemic, we’ve continued to neglect the longer-lasting epidemic of gun violence in America. Although the shooter’s motive is not yet clear, the identity of the victims underscores an alarming rise in anti-Asian violence that must end.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 17, 2021
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