Last week’s horrific mass shooting is the latest in a surge of anti-Asian violence and harassment since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. It was also a reminder that anti-Asian racism is often entangled with misogyny, and that anti-Asian violence often disproportionately targets Asian women. In announcing Robert Aaron Long’s arrest in Tuesday’s killings, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Captain Jay Baker said that Long targeted the three Asian-owned spas because he was seeking to eliminate a “temptation” related to his history of sex addiction. Baker further said that Long denied any racial motivation in the attack, speculating that the businesses may have been “targets of opportunity.”
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