A spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office, Cherokee County, Georgia, came under fire Wednesday afternoon for pinning the deadly shooting on Tuesday that killed eight people – including six Asian women – on a 21-year-old white man’s “very bad day.” left it.
“Yesterday was a very bad day for him, and that’s what he did,” Jay Baker told the Atlanta Police Department’s joint news conference about 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long.
But the same spokesman appears to have shared racist content online, including pointing out China’s ongoing coronavirus pandemic – the same advocates of vitriols fueled a devastating rise in violence against Asian Americans.
On a Facebook page related to Capt. Jay Baker of the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office, is shown in several photos how law enforcement promotes T-shirts with the slogan “COVID-19-imported virus from CHY-NA.”
“Place your order while it lasts,” Baker wrote with a smile in a March 30 photo containing the racist T-shirts.
“Love my shirt,” Baker wrote in another post in April 2020. “Get yours while it lasts.” ‘
The shirts appear to be printed by Deadline Appeal, owned by a former Cherokee County deputy sheriff, and sold for $ 22. The store, which promotes fully customizable equipment, also appears to be printing shirts for the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Honor Guard, a “ceremonial unit, all volunteers, representing not only the Sheriff’s Office but also the county as they attend various events. participate, ”according to an Instagram post from March 10.
The photos on Baker’s account were first noticed by a Twitter user.
Several photos on the Facebook page show Baker in his uniform and functions at the sheriff, including one with his name tag clearly visible. Baker did not immediately respond to requests for comment on his personal cell phone and the Sheriff’s office.
Asked by The Daily Beast, Sheriff Frank Reynolds, who is apparently friends with Baker on Facebook, said he was not familiar with the racist photos.
“I’m not aware of that. I will have to contact him, but thank you for bringing this to my attention, ”said Reynolds.
Reynolds’ official sheriff’s department contains a list from 2005 to 2008 at the Department of Foreign Affairs, fully described in abbreviations: WPPS HTP, IC BWUSA. It appears to be for Worldwide Personal Protective Services, a contract that the federal government has awarded to independent contractor Blackwater USA. His campaign page refers to work in Iraq without mentioning his employer. But an apparent Reynolds supporter and fellow member of the department shared a picture on Facebook of the then-candidate’s security clearance to dispel rumors that he had a 2016 crime record. The image, named Reynolds, showed a contract number corresponding to an indefinite time. the State Department agreed with Blackwater to provide security guards and control services in 2005.
Blackwater became notorious after its private guards fatally shot 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad in 2007. There is currently no evidence linking Reynolds to the incident, and he did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
The massacre at three Asian massage parlors comes amid a shocking wave of anti-Asian violence in the United States. Authorities say Long, the suspect in the heinous crimes, insisted he was not deliberately targeting people of Asian descent. Nevertheless, police – including Baker – said the investigation was continuing and the killings could still be described as a hate crime.
The fact that Long allegedly targeted Asian massage salons and killed half a dozen Asian women sparked the uproar online and among community leaders. According to Stop AAPI Hate, a national coalition documenting discrimination during the pandemic, nearly 3,800 incidents of anti-Asian hatred were reported between March 2020 and last month.
During a Wednesday news conference, Baker apparently downplayed Long’s alleged actions and told reporters that the 21-year-old attributed the crimes to his ‘sexual addiction’ issues. Baker said Long directed the spas to “take out the temptation”.
Baker’s adopted brother, Anthony Baker, is a Supreme Court justice in Georgia – and according to a profile published in January, he was born in Vietnam to a woman who married an American soldier.
– with coverage by Maxwell Tani, Noor Ibrahim and Blake Montgomery