Biden scraps political event in Atlanta after shootings
President, V-P will now meet Asian-American leaders to talk about ongoing attacks, threats
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People on Thursday paying their respects at the scene of one of the massage parlour shootings in Atlanta, Georgia. United States President Joe Biden's event in the city was meant to promote his coronavirus relief Bill.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
WASHINGTON • United States President Joe Biden has cancelled a political event planned for yesterday in Atlanta to promote his coronavirus relief Bill, after a series of shootings at three massage parlours in the city left eight people dead.
Mr Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris will instead meet Asian-American leaders in Georgia "to discuss the ongoing attacks and threats against the community", the White House said in a statement on Thursday.
Mr Biden will also meet Ms Stacey Abrams, a prominent Democrat and former gubernatorial candidate, a White House aide said.
Six of the eight victims were Asian women, with the killings on Tuesday coming amid a surge in violence targeting Asian Americans over the past year as the pandemic seized the world.
Former president Donald Trump bears some responsibility for the violence, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, citing his offensive descriptions of the virus and its origins.
Members of Congress from both the Republican and Democratic parties have largely condemned the killings and described the act as a hate crime against Asian Americans.
Some Republicans, however, expressed concern that criticising China and its handling of the outbreak could be labelled as hate speech.
Speaking in a House hearing about discrimination against Asian Americans, Texas Representative Chip Roy, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Sub-Committee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, criticised the Chinese Communist Party and defended what he described as his right to free speech.
"My concern about this hearing is that it seems to want to venture into the policing of rhetoric in a free society and away from the rule of law and taking out bad guys," he said.
Democratic sub-committee chairman Steve Cohen said the incidents of discrimination discussed in the hearing - being spat at, slapped in the face, lit on fire - are not speech.
Representative Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, said he's "very aware of who the bad guys are and who our foreign enemies are, but this hearing is about Americans of Asian descent who are being targeted and the United States. It's not about policing speech."
The police on Wednesday arrested Robert Aaron Long, a 21-year-old white man, in connection with the murders.
That day, Mr Biden tweeted that while the motive for the crime remains unknown, the "Asian-American community is feeling enormous pain tonight".
"The recent attacks against the community are unAmerican," Mr Biden said. "They must stop."
The President also announced on Thursday that he would order US flags on federal property lowered to half-staff in honour of the victims.
The scheduling change comes despite Mr Biden's original plans to use the trip to Georgia to promote his US$1.9 trillion (S$2.55 trillion) virus relief package.
BLOOMBERG