- Police did not call the Atlanta salon shootings a hate crime, but it's not a question for some.
- The shooter targeted Asian-owned businesses, and six of the eight victims were Asian.
- We asked experts to define a hate crime, and judge whether the Atlanta shootings meet the definition.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Police did not call the Atlanta salon shootings a hate crime. But for many, it's not even a question.
Robert Aaron Long, 21, was charged after targeting three Asian-owned salons, killing eight people — six of them Asian women.
"If that's not racist, I'm not really sure what the meaning of the word even means anymore," said Lily Zildjian at a New York City 'Stop Asian Hate' demonstration. "I definitely think it should be considered a hate crime."
This isn't the first time the debate over what constitutes a hate crime has surfaced. The 2016 mass shooting at the gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando, Florida, wasn't initially called a hate crime. Neither was the 2019 shooting at a Kosher deli in New Jersey.
So why do police often hesitate to call something a hate crime? And how much weight does that hold for the communities affected?
We asked four activists and experts.
"When you look at who died, it's very difficult to not see a racist, gender-based moment of violence that resulted in murders," said Jennifer Wang, the deputy director of programs at the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum.
The government defines a hate crime as one "motivated by bias against race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability."
But they can be hard to prove.
"You have to get at the intention of the perpetrator," said Elizabeth OuYang, a professor, civil rights attorney, and founder of the Hate Crimes Prevention Art Project. "Is there a pattern of their conduct? Did they attack a certain group of people over a certain period of time? That would play into the analysis here."
Then, states' laws can also play a role.
In June of 2020, Georgia became one of the last states to adopt a hate crime law, which allows judges to increase the punishment if it's determined to be a hate crime. So, in this case, if the shooter was charged with and found guilty of a hate crime it would be a landmark case for the state.
Long told police the attacks were related to his sex addiction. It's commonplace for officers to interview the suspect at the beginning of an investigation. But some say a simple answer shouldn't carry so much weight on the final label.
"I don't believe that we should be asking the perpetrator if it was a hate crime," said Kathleen Dang, a nonprofit professional, youth educator, and community volunteer in San Diego. "He doesn't get to decide if it's a hate crime. This person targeted Asian-owned businesses. The victims are Asian women. That should be clear enough that it is a racially and sexually-motivated crime."
Dang said the shooter's decision to target these salons in particular links the crime to sexist stereotypes Asian American women have endured for decades.
"Asian women are supposed to be submissive," said Dang. "They're supposed to be these sexual, exotic beings because of what's seen in movies."
"I've heard every racist euphemism in the book, but a lot of it has been highly gendered," said Wang. "There's this stereotype that the genitalia of Asian women looks different, and that is both a racist and sexist stereotype. As a kid, I would be asked, 'is it true?'"
In America's largest cities, anti-Asian hate crimes rose by 150% in 2020.
"I work in the customer service field," said resident Jenny Liao at the New York demonstration. "When people don't like what I'm telling them, they look at me and say, 'Oh, you are Chinese. I'm going to blame you for COVID.'"
Throughout the last year of his presidency, Donald Trump repeatedly referred to COVID-19 as "the China virus," or even the "kung flu."
"Words matter," said Karen Korematsu, founder of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute. "The anti-Asian hateful rhetoric was ramping up because of the former president."
Korematsu says Trump's words contributed directly to the rise in attacks on members of the Asian American community.
"It should never have gone this far," said Dang.
In many cases, the public will see an attack like this one as a hate crime even if police never officially charge the suspect with it. And sometimes, public outrage can make an impact on the case.
In the Pulse shooting, the suspect died without charges, but many experts view the attack as a key example of a hate crime. The Atlanta salon attack is already seen that way by many.
"It definitely should be considered a hate crime," said New York resident Daniel Quitco at a city demonstration. "I've read the stories where people are like, 'He just had a bad day,' or, 'It was a sexual desire that overcame him.' No, he attacked Asian establishments with Asian employees. You say what it is. Call it what it is."
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