During an appearance on MSNBC Thursday night, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said she’s increased police patrols in areas of the city with several Asian-owned businesses after this week’s fatal spa shootings.
“We’re doing all that we can to make sure that our communities feel safe and protected,” Bottoms said on the ReidOut program hosted by Joy Reid.
Bottoms condemned the actions of Robert Aaron Long, 21, who allegedly opened fire inside three spas in Atlanta and Cherokee County on Tuesday. The gunfire injured nine and killed eight, including six Asian women. Long was charged with eight counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault.
Officials stopped short of calling it a hate crime for now despite rising violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the nation.
Reid pressed Bottoms about the comments made by Cherokee County Sheriff’s spokesman Capt. Jay Baker, who told the public on Wednesday that Long had “a bad day” during the shootings. The mayor said Baker was just trying to relay what Long told police, but Bottoms added that he “could have done a better job.”
Additionally, Bottoms said she wasn’t aware of Baker’s “disturbing” Facebook posts at the time — which included images derided as racist by civil rights activists.
Bottoms told Reid that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are spending time with leaders in Atlanta’s Asian American and Pacific Islander community today, and a listening session will be held as well.
“I’m glad that they are coming,” Bottoms said. “It’s an opportunity for us to hear first-hand that hurt and that pain that we know the Asian-American community has been experiencing since the last guy left the White House.”
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