A spokesman for the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia, was attacked on Wednesday afternoon for accusing Tuesday’s deadly shooting that left eight dead – including six Asian women – on a “lousy day” of a 21-year-old white male.
“Yesterday was a very bad day for him and that is what he did,” said Jay Baker during a joint press conference with the Atlanta Police Department about 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long.
But it appears that the same spokesman shared racist content online, including pointing the finger at China for the ongoing coronavirus pandemic – the same vitriol advocates say it has fueled a terrible spike in violence against Asian Americans.
On a Facebook page associated with Captain Jay Baker of the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office, several photos show that the law enforcement officer was promoting T-shirts with the slogan “COVID-19 imported virus from CHY-NA”. “Place your order while they last,” wrote Baker with a smiley face in another March 30 photo that included the racist t-shirts.
“I loved my shirt,” Baker wrote in another post in April 2020. “Buy yours while they last.”
The T-shirts appear to have been printed by the Deadline Appeal, owned by a former Cherokee County sheriff, and sold for $ 22. The store, which promotes fully customizable equipment, also appears to print T-shirts for the Office of Honor Guard of the Office. Cherokee County Sheriff, a “ceremonial unit, all volunteers, who represent not only the Sheriff’s Office, but also the county by participating in a variety of events,” according to a March 10 Instagram post. Photos from Baker’s account were first seen by a Twitter user.
Several photos on the Facebook page show Baker in his uniform and participating in duties in the sheriff’s department, including one with his clearly visible badge. Baker did not immediately respond to requests for comment on his personal cell phone and Cherokee County Sheriff’s office.
When contacted by The Daily Beast, sheriff Frank Reynolds, who appears to be a friend of Baker on Facebook, said he was unaware of the racist photos.
“I am not aware of that. I will have to contact you, but thank you for bringing this to my attention, ”said Reynolds.
The massacre at three Asian massage parlors comes amid a shocking wave of anti-Asian violence in the United States. Authorities say Tuesday’s suspect in the violence, Long, insisted he was not targeting people of Asian descent. Still, the police – including Baker – said the investigation was ongoing and that the murders could still be classified as hate crimes.
Long’s allegedly targeting Asian massage parlors and killing half a dozen Asian women has sparked uproar online and among community leaders. Nearly 3,800 incidents of anti-Asian hate incidents were reported between March 2020 and last month, according to Stop AAPI Hate, a national coalition that documents discrimination during the pandemic
During a news conference on Wednesday, Baker appeared to downplay Long’s actions in deadly violence, telling reporters that the 21-year-old attributed the crimes to his “sexual addiction” problems. Baker said that Long directed the spas to “end the temptation.”
Baker’s foster brother, Anthony Baker, is a judge at the Georgia Superior Court – and, according to a profile published in January, he was born in Vietnam, the son of a woman who had married an American soldier.
– with reporting by Maxwell Tani and Blake Montgomery