LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Police have said "nothing is off the table" in their investigation of a deadly shooting spree in Atlanta Tuesday, including whether the spree was a hate crime.
A gunman was charged with killing eight people at three spas in metro Atlanta. Of the eight killed, six were Asian woman. The murders come as the Asian American community has faced increased attacks amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Just two months into the pandemic, duPont Manual freshman Piper Shiflet created an art piece for the Frazier History Museum's coronavirus capsule project focusing on hate crimes against Asian Americans.
"I really wanted to spread awareness about all of the things that had been happening in the Asian community, because this was at the beginning of the pandemic, so not a lot was being shared about all the hate crimes that were going on," Shiflet said.
Shiflet said she's received hate messages online in the past year — and she's not alone.
According to a report from the group Stop AAPI Hate, the majority of the nearly 4,000 incidents reported between March 19 of last year and February 28 of this year, involved verbal harassment and shunning, meaning the deliberate avoidance of Asian Americans.
"With hate crimes and that kind of thing, no one that is committing these crimes are aware that you're adopted or biologically connected to the Asian community," Shiflet said. "They see you as what your race is."
According to the Center for Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, hate crimes against Asian Americans jumped 149% from 2019 to 2020 in 16 of America's largest cities.
"I think that this [shooting] is one of the worst things that has happened to our community in a very long time, but I think that at the same time it is great that people are now spreading awareness," Shiflet said.
The Asian Institute Crane House in Old Louisville is hoping to be a resource to people, working with local partners like the FBI, ACLU and Office of Globalization to build a coalition focused on addressing issues.
"We'd like be the convener and build that coalition, because honestly right now, I don't think if a hate crime happened right here in Louisville people would know where to go," said Joel Buno, executive director.
Lawmakers have introduced legislation that would assign a person at the Justice Department to expedite the review of hate crimes related to COVID-19, though it is unclear if the bill will get a vote.
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