[imagesource: Crisp County Sheriff’s Office / Reuters]
On Tuesday, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long was arrested and charged with murder after a series of attacks on spas and massage parlours in Atlantia, Georgia, left eight people dead.
Seven of those were women, and six of those women were of Asian descent, which led many to believe that the attacks were racially motivated.
However, police say that Long told them he had a sex addiction, and was trying to eliminate the temptation he thought the businesses posed.
That doesn’t account for why he drove past countless strip clubs and massage parlours to specifically target those he opened fire on, where Asian women were known to work.
A now-defunct Instagram account belonging to Long had the following bio: “Pizza, guns, drums, music, family, and God. This pretty much sums up my life. It’s a pretty good life.”
According to one police source, Long was recently kicked out of the house by his family, who said he would frequently “spend hours on end” watching pornography online.
When discussing Long’s possible motives, Capt Jay Baker of the Cherokee County sheriff’s office said they had interviewed the suspect, and that he was “pretty much fed up, and kind of at [the] end of his rope, and yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did”.
That’s a pretty casual way to talk about someone accused of murdering eight people in a gun rampage.
Fresh off hosting the Grammy Awards, Trevor Noah took some time to focus on the shooting. In particular, he spoke about why America should have seen this coming, as hate crimes against Asian Americans are on the rise:
[source:dailyshow]
[imagesource: Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn] A woman in Thailand, dubbed 'Am Cyanide' by Thai...
[imagesource:renemagritte.org] A René Magritte painting portraying an eerily lighted s...
[imagesource: Alison Botha] Gqeberha rape survivor Alison Botha, a beacon of resilience...
[imagesource:mcqp/facebook] Clutch your pearls for South Africa’s favourite LGBTQIA+ ce...
[imagesource:capetown.gov] The City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee has approved the...