The Georgia sheriff’s officer, who said the man accused of killing six Asian women and two others in shootings in spas in the Atlanta area, had “a bad day” previously, shared a photo of racist t-shirts on social media.
In an April 2020 Facebook post, Captain Jay Baker of Cherokee County Sheriff shared an image of T-shirts based on the Corona beer label that read “Covid 19 VIRUS IMPORTED FROM CHY-NA.”
“I loved my shirt,” wrote Baker. “Get yours before it’s over. ‘”
Baker did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but after BuzzFeed News asked about the shirt, the public Facebook post was unavailable.
At their news conference on the shootings on Wednesday, police said it was too early to determine whether the suspect was motivated by race, but added that the suspect told authorities that he had problems with sex addiction and that I target business because I wanted to “take that temptation away.”
As director of communications and community relations at the sheriff’s office, Baker was among the law enforcement speakers who gave an update on the investigation.
Speaking to reporters about the suspect’s explanation for the shootings, which he allegedly admitted, Baker said it was “a really bad day” for the sniper.
His comments and the authorities’ decision to focus on the suspect’s narrative amid a flood of hate incidents against Americans of Asian origin have been widely criticized.
A report published on Tuesday by the Stop AAPI Hate organization found nearly 3,800 hate incidents reported targeting Asian Americans last year, in part due to the racist scapegoat over COVID-19. During the pandemic, former President Donald Trump repeatedly called the disease “China Virus” and “Kung Flu”.
Of the incidents documented by the group, 68% involved verbal harassment and 11% physical aggression. The report also showed that women reported attacks at more than twice the rate of men.