Protesters rally against Asian hate across US

Hundreds gathered in cities across the US on Saturday, including Atlanta, Georgia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to protest mounting violence against Asian-Americans in the past year, sparked by the recent shootings at day spas in Atlanta that left eight dead, including six Asian women, Reuters reported.

The killings followed a year of mounting anti-Asian violence in the United States, which community leaders say is due to Asian Americans being blamed for the coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China, in late 2019.

Crowds of people wearing masks, waving American flags and carrying posters that read “We are not the virus” and “Stop Asian Hate” stood in front of the golden-domed Georgia State Capitol building on Saturday.

Georgia authorities have yet to determine what drove the suspect, a 21-year-old white man, who was charged with the killings at spas in and around Atlanta on Tuesday.

Some of the women killed were immigrants and mothers, described by family and friends as hard-working, loving and beloved.

ZZ/PR