Robert Aaron Long, 21, of Woodstock, Georgia, which is about 30 miles from downtown Atlanta, is in police custody on suspicion of having travelled on the evening of March 16, 2021, to three different massage parlors in the Atlanta area and killing at least eight people, six of whom were Asian women. Long has been described as religious and in a press conference local police said he took "responsibility for the shootings" and denied that they were racially motivated but said he was a sex addict and wanted to eliminate places that were a source of "temptation."
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Online many white supremacists and neo-Nazis celebrated the shooting and praised the shooter. Others called the attack a "false flag" carried out to pass gun control legislation or divert attention away from the cases of Blacks attacking Asians. Still others have suggested that Long is Jewish or working for Israeli intelligence.
The following report will review some posts from social media reacting to the shooting in Atlanta.
White Supremacists Celebrate The Shooting
On a forum known for hosting white supremacists, many users celebrated the killing of Asians.
A user on the forum referred to the Christchurch killer, Brenton Tarrant, responding to a comment that said: "Taking out the chink trash" by writing: "the best way to commemorate the St. Tarrant's day." The 2nd anniversary of the Christchurch massacre took place on March 15, 2021 and was widely celebrated by white supremacists.
Many users used dehumanizing language to refer to Asians when discussing the shooting, calling Asians "invader subhumans," "insectoid sub-humans," and "nasty vermin."
A user on a different platform posted about the shooting in a white supremacist group on the site writing: "HOPEFULLY these mass murders of non-whites will continue!"
A neo-Nazi account on a messaging platform responded to a news article about the shooting with a drawing of a man wearing a skull mask and praying, with the repeated sentence: "pleaselettheshooterbewhite."
Online Users Call The Shooting A 'False Flag' to 'Further Gun Control'
As is common whenever there is a mass shooting some began to speculate that the shooting was staged in order to pass stricter gun legislation. On a platform frequently used by white supremacists' users suggested the shooting was carried out by law enforcement to further restrict guns.
Users on a forum known for hosting white supremacists said that U.S. President Joe Biden and the Democrats coordinated the shooting to gain support for more gun control measures. One user commented: "wow what a coincidence in America with all the black on Asian shit and gun control laws being put in. After such a long lull of mass shooters during Trump I guess false flags are back on the menu."
Others on the same platform agreed, calling the event a "garbage false flag timed so perfectly to back bidens gun ban" and writing that "Democrats aren't wasting anytime with ff shootings. Theu [they] want them guns."
A user on a neo-Nazi forum commented "Is it just me, or does it seem like anytime the Jew controlled media brings up gun control/white racists in every corner and shadow, something like this happens 'out of the blue?' And this week, just when Pelosi and Schumer are talking about banning evil AR-15s and registering every other gun with the FBI. Right on cue, we have a redneck shooting Asians, when most racial crimes against them is done by blacks. Mysterious, isn't it! Wikipedia didn't miss a beat" then including the new Wikipedia article documenting the shooting.
Users Claim Shooting Staged, Done To Shift Attention From Black on Asian Violence
The recent increase in attacks on Asians in the United States has been widely discussed in white supremacist circles. Many have criticized the mainstream media and activists for, in their view, downplaying the fact that these attacks were carried out by black Americans and have instead blamed white people and white supremacists. Reacting to this shooting, many white supremacists have argued that media and public attention was shifting to black Americans as the culprits of these attacks and so this shooting was staged to re-focus the narrative on white Americans being the cause of the anti-Asian violence.
On a well-known forum, a user suggested blacks were responsible for all the attacks on Asians and this shooting was meant to distract the public from this fact.
In another thread, users expressed the same ideas, writing: "Normies were starting to find out that Asian killings were done by ni**ers" and "they knew they had to do something, the chimps were attacking the chinks too much."
The account of a British extreme right figure posted a message about the Atlanta shooting suggesting that the act occurred to draw attention away from instances of black on Asian violence.
Users Suggest Shooting Was A False Flag Or Never Occurred, Claim Jews Orchestrated The Attacks
A prominent Neo-Nazi posted an article on his website where he suggests Jews planned the shooting to restrict free speech and gun rights.
On a neo-Nazi forum a user commented on the attack suggesting that Jews manufactured the event in order to blame white supremacists and get media attention.
Another user also suggested the Jews were behind the attack writing "False flag. I tend to agree. Asians are now the ones being portrayed as victims of hate crimes. Too many of them were due to black criminals. This is just right for jews to blame whitey. Looks like China took control of the false flags and psyops [psychological operations] division. Clearly, China has military support now as they have a white perp, go after Tucker [Carlson] and go after Margie Taylor Greene."
Users on a forum used by white supremacists wrote that the perpetrator was a jew himself. One wrote commenting on a picture of Long "JUUUDEN! He looks like a mix of a bird and a rat."
Others blamed Jews more generally with users writing that Long committed the shootings because "The Talmud told him to" and that this attack had been coordinated by Jews who "trick the goyim like they're little kids."
Online Users Suggest Black People Should Have Been Targeted Instead
On a prominent forum used by white supremacists some users suggested that the alleged shooter should have targeted blacks instead and hoped that someone would kill black people next. One user wrote "Can someone FINALLY shoot the blacks already."
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