ATLANTA — Sunday marked four years since Robert Aaron Long entered three massage parlors across the metro Atlanta area, shooting and killing eight people.
Asian American rights advocates commemorated the date in Norcross, where they gathered to remember the victims and fight for change.
Victoria Huynh, an AAPI Community Organizer/SME in Georgia, organized Sunday’s event, which centered around “Leading with Compassion.”
“We are here to create a safe space for community members to talk about the issues they’re worried about,” said Huynh.
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Conversations about immigration policies, safety for elders, and other topics impacting the AAPI community were discussed, while the lives of the victims were honored.
“We want to listen and come up with community solutions so that we can continue to build upon the work of the last four years and ensure that those victims aren’t forgotten, and that their families are still being supported,” added Huynh.
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Georgia State Representative Long Tran attended Sunday’s event, sharing this message about what he hopes for the future:
“I want people to know that everyone just wants to live their life. Go to work, spend time with their family... We may look different and have different religions, but we all just want to be great neighbors to one another.”
Four years later, Long has been convicted in Cherokee County, but the criminal proceedings are still ongoing in Fulton County.
While he has already been sentenced to life in prison for four of the murders in Cherokee County, he still faces the death penalty under Georgia’s Hate Crime Law in Fulton County.
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