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OfJohanna Soll
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A man killed six Asian women in a shooting spree in Atlanta. His racist motive is doubted. A comment.
Atlanta – The German and US media reported the following regarding the shooting in Atlanta, Georgia: “According to investigators, the preliminary investigation indicated that the suspect, Robert Aaron L., had no racial motive,” ” he also told investigators that the killings were not racially motivated. Officials say it’s too early to determine if this was a hate crime” or the suspect “has denied a political motive, police say.”
However, this information is merely allegations made by the suspect to the police following his arrest. So is what the suspect says true? Is it right if the media unchecked his claims regarding his motives? Of course not! At this point in time, it is certain that the suspect shot dead eight people in and around Atlanta on Tuesday (03/16/2021) in three massage parlors where he was a customer in the past. He’s a sex addict, so he’s already been treated as an inpatient, and sexual services are often offered in massage parlors of this kind. Seven of the fatalities are women, six are of Asian descent. The suspect has since been charged with eight counts of murder.
Atlanta gunman: Police spokesman calls massage parlors a temptation for men
Following the suspect’s arrest, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Speaker Jay Baker said in a news conference with irritating nonchalance that the suspect has a problem he describes as sex addiction and sees these establishments as a temptation he wants to eliminate . Furthermore, according to Baker, the suspect was pretty exhausted, he had a very bad day “and then he did it.”
Hearing all of this from the mouth of a police spokesman is highly unusual, if not disturbing. Because Baker does not reproduce the suspect’s statements in a neutral manner, he gives them his own rating, plays down the deeds – at least so it seems – and thus puts himself a little ahead of the 21-year-old suspect. This is particularly noticeable when Baker states that the suspect has taken responsibility for his actions. Those words may be used by a teacher speaking out in front of the faculty once morest the expulsion of a student, but not by a police officer at a press conference following a killing spree that killed eight people. It would have been correct if Baker had said that the suspect had confessed to the crimes or that he had admitted the crime.
Protesters walk past the Gold Spa in Atlanta. It was one of three massage parlors where a gunman fired fatal shots.
© Tami Chappell/imago-images
Gunman in Atlanta: racism of a police officer without consequences
There is now evidence of a reason for Jay Baker’s highly unprofessional behavior: last spring he advertised T-shirts on his Facebook page that match ex-President Donald Trump’s rhetoric by labeling Covid-19 as “from Chy- na imported virus”. So it cannot be ruled out that the responsible police spokesman, a civil servant of the executive branch, possibly sympathizes in his anti-Asian racism with the suspect, who admitted to having killed eight people shortly before, including six Asian women. It has since been announced that Jay Baker will no longer serve as spokesman in the case, but he is still on duty. Once once more, open display of racism by a police officer has no consequences.
But who is responsible for deciding on the suspect’s motive? Basically the court. The criminal process is designed to determine the suspect’s motives, as this affects which offenses they are charged with and for which they are ultimately convicted. The suspect’s statements are taken into account, but investigations are of course carried out to check the truthfulness of the statements. Because it might be false statements or there might be other motives that the suspect is concealing, since you don’t have to incriminate yourself.
Atlanta Gunman: Media has taken over suspect’s narrative
In the case of sensational crimes, however, the media tends to prejudgment if many facts of a case become known before the criminal trial. If a person who is read as Muslim commits a suicide attack, it is immediately concluded that it is an Islamist terrorist attack. When it comes to white perpetrators, the media is usually much more reserved. In this case, they initially even went so far as to simply copy the suspect’s narrative – following all, the police showed it at the press conference. However, statements by a suspect must not simply be accepted without verification. By doing this, the media are disregarding their journalistic duty of care.
Atlanta: Flowers stand in front of one of the massage parlors where the gunman found his victims.
© TAMI CHAPPELL/imago-images
If many media, both in the USA and in Germany, had dealt more critically with the facts of the case, they would not have initially dismissed group-related enmity as a motive for the crime. This includes different forms of discrimination, which often occur frequently. Examples of common combinations are racism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. So far, everything in the Atlanta shooting spree points to misogyny and racism. The suspect didn’t shoot random people of different genders and ethnic backgrounds – he shot Asian women. The reason he gives is that he wanted to eliminate a “temptation”. Apparently he sees a temptation in Asian women or women of Asian descent that he needs to eliminate.
Atlanta rampage: women are being hypersexualized
It’s a sad truth that both Asian and black women are often exoticized, hypersexualized, and fetishized by white men. Due to their ethnic origin, certain sexual characteristics are attributed to them – that is exactly what racism combined with misogyny is. The women are dehumanized and seen as (sex) objects. It is high time to call things by their proper name. If a suspect names a motive or conceals a possible motive, whether accidentally or intentionally, it is not only the duty of the judiciary to determine his true motives. It is also the duty of the media to point out the obvious and not follow the suspect’s narrative. Otherwise, they act just like Jay Baker, the incompetent, racist spokesman for the Cherokee County Sheriff. (Johanna Soll)
Rubriklistenbild: © Tami Chappell/imago-images
