A number of celebrities have offered support to the Asian American community and condolences to the victims following shocking shootings at Asian massage parlors in Atlanta.
- Mar 18, 2021
AceShowbiz - Olivia Munn leads celebrities including Lulu Wang, Daniel Dae Kim, and Mindy Kaling who expressed their anguish for the safety of the Asian American community following news of shootings in Atlanta on Tuesday (16Mar21) evening that left eight people dead.
The shootings took place at multiple massage parlours in Atlanta and one in the suburbs, authorities said, reported The Hollywood Reporter.
A 21-year-old man suspected in the shootings was taken into custody in southwest Georgia hours later after a manhunt.
The killings follow a recent wave of racist attacks against Asian Americans that coincided with the spread of the novel coronavirus across the United States.
"The violent attacks and murders against Asians are still happening. Please help us. We need help to be safe in our country. #StopAsianHate. Please," tweeted Munn who has been vocal about rising attacks against the Asian American community, including a recent attack against her friend's mother outside a New York City bakery.
Responding to a tweet that read "I want to know their names, who and what they loved, the people they had waiting for them at home, everything they hoped for..." "The Farewell" director Wang said, "I know these women. The ones working themselves to the bone to send their kids to school, to send money back home. In too much pain to know what else to say so I'll just leave this here."
"Hawaii Five-0" star Kim tweeted, "The race of the person committing the crime matters less than the simple fact that if you act with hate in your heart, you are part of the problem. And to those with the power to help and yet sit idly by, your silence is complicity." While Kaling tweeted: "The targeting of our Asian brothers and sisters is sickening, but not surprising given the normalizing of anti-Asian hate speech in the past year."
Anti-Asian hate crime increased by 149 per cent in 16 of America's largest cities increased in 2020 according to a recent study by the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. Former President Donald Trump and senior members of his administration were criticised continually during his time in office for referring to COVID-19 as a "Chinese virus," despite the World Health Organization's warning against using geographic locations when naming illnesses.
Bernice King and LeBron James also offered condolences to the families and communities of those killed in Atlanta. James tweeted, "My condolences goes out to the families of all the victims and the entire Asian community tonight on what transpired in Atlanta at the Aromatherapy Spa. Coward a** young man!! Just senseless and tragic!!"
