'A specific kind of racism': Atlanta shootings fuel fears over anti-sex-work ideology

Advocates for sex workers say the spa attacks combined sexism and toxic Asian stereotypes

On Tuesday night, a 21-year-old man named Robert Aaron Long allegedly went on a deadly rampage at three Atlanta spas, killing eight people, including six Asian women. Long's shooting spree, police say, began at Youngs Asian Massage Parlor on the city's outskirts, where he killed four people, two of whom were Asian, and injured one; he then allegedly fled the scene and proceeded to Gold Spa, killing three more people, all Asian women; and then he entered a spa right across the street, Aromatherapy Spa, where he killed his final victim.

Following an interview with authorities, the Cherokee county sheriff, Frank Reynolds, maintained that Long gave no indicators" that his crimes were racially motivated. We asked him that specifically and the answer was no," Reynolds said on Wednesday.