Vigil in New York for Atlanta shooting victims

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio joined other prominent New York political figures on Thursday for a vigil for the Atlanta-area shooting victims. The vigil was held in the city's Queens Borough, and former Queens Borough President Sharon Lee and New York State Senator John Liu were among those voicing anger about the attacks that killed eight people, mostly women of Asian descent.

"I don't know what's going to kill me first, COVID or racism," Lee said.

Liu spoke about the charges against the suspect, following controversy over comments from a Cherokee County sheriff's official who said of the alleged gunman that it had been "a really bad day for him.” "There's no hate crime there? You gotta be kidding! And then for the sheriff's department's office to say the killer had a bad day? The killer had a bad day? Those eight people had bad days! This is outrageous," Liu said.

The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said it regretted any “heartache” caused by the comments and that “they were not intended to disrespect any of the victims, the gravity of this tragedy or express empathy or sympathy for the suspect." Many Asian Americans around the nation using social media have also expressed outrage that the suspect, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long, was not immediately charged with hate crimes. Authorities said Long told them the attack was not racially motivated and claimed that he targeted the spas because of a sex addiction.