georgia
Photo taken at Asian restaurant in Georgia captures child being taught racist gesture
- A photo of Rebekah Lee, a 19-year-old college student in Atlanta, has gone viral on social media due to a racist photobomb captured in the background.
- In the photo, which was taken on Saturday, a woman can be seen teaching a young girl how to pull her eyes back in a squint, appearing to mock Asian eyes.
- The tweet has received over 65,000 retweets, with many users angered by the racist gesture.
A photo of a college student dining at an Asian restaurant in Georgia has gone viral on social media due to a racist photobomb captured in the background.
Rebekah Lee, a 19-year-old student at Emory College of Arts & Sciences, was dining at the restaurant Ton-Ton Ramen at Ponce City Market in Atlanta on Saturday when she had her photo taken shortly after her food arrived.
Atlanta spa shooter’s death penalty trial delayed to 2023
- Robert Aaron Long, who pleaded guilty to the Atlanta-area spa shootings of March 2021, will begin his death penalty trial in Fulton County in January 2023.
- The trial was supposed to start on Oct. 17, but a judge granted a delay at the request of prosecutors in light of a new Supreme Court decision and a new state law on expert testimony.
- Long, 23, shot eight people to death in Fulton and Cherokee Counties; six of them were women of Asian descent.
- He was sentenced to life without parole for the four murders that occurred in Cherokee, where he blamed his actions to a “sex addiction.”
- Fulton prosecutors are pursuing the death penalty partly due to his hate crime enhancements, which are believed to be the first application of the law in Georgia.
Robert Aaron Long, who faces the death penalty for four of the 2021 Atlanta-area spa shootings, will begin his trial in January 2023 instead of Oct. 17, according to reports.
Fulton County Superior Judge Ural Glanville delayed Long’s trial at the request of prosecutors. But attorneys for both sides reportedly agreed on a need for more preparation in light of a new, unspecified Supreme Court decision and a new state law on expert testimony.
Georgia man found guilty of terrorizing Asian restaurant owners, employees in home break-ins
- Emmanuel Rakestraw was convicted of breaking into and robbing the homes of several Asian restaurant owners and employees in Georgia’s Gwinnett and DeKalb counties between March 2019 and June 2019.
- Rakestraw, who reportedly worked with at least three others, followed the victims from their businesses to their homes, where children as young as 2 were present.
- In one incident, Rakestraw allegedly pistol-whipped a victim and stole his wallet, which contained his ID, credit cards and more than $1,200 in cash.
- Rakestraw, whose trial began earlier this month, was found guilty of two counts of home invasion, three counts of burglary, two counts of armed robbery and two counts of aggravated assault.
- A sentencing date has not been scheduled yet.
A Georgia man has been convicted of breaking into and robbing several Asian restaurant owners and employees’ homes in 2019, including a residence with a 2-year-old child.
Emmanuel Rakestraw, who reportedly worked with at least three others, carried out the attacks between March 2019 and June 2019. The group trailed victims from their businesses to their homes in Gwinnett and DeKalb counties.
Vietnamese American Bee Nguyen wins Democratic nomination for Georgia secretary of state
- Georgia state Rep. Bee Nguyen (D, GA-89) defeated former state Rep. Dee Dawkins-Haigler (D, GA-91) in the primary runoff on Tuesday to become the official Democratic nominee for secretary of state in Georgia.
- Nguyen is set to face Republican incumbent Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in the general election in November.
- “For the first time in our state’s history, an Asian American woman is going to be a nominee on a statewide ticket,” the 40-year-old said.
- Nguyen, who became the first Vietnamese American elected to Georgia’s General Assembly when she was elected to the State House in 2017, will be the first Asian American elected to statewide office if she wins in November.
Georgia state Rep. Bee Nguyen (D, GA-89) is the official Democratic nominee for secretary of state in Georgia after she defeated former state Rep. Dee Dawkins-Haigler (D, GA-91) in the primary runoff on Tuesday.
Nguyen, the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, is set to face Republican incumbent Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in the general election in November.
Filipino Georgia Tech students go viral with a modernized folk dance performance set to Lil Nas X song
- The Filipino Student Association of the Georgia Institute of Technology went viral on social media for their “Gen Z” rendition of the traditional Philippine folk dance “Tinikling.”
- The group’s performance, which was uploaded to Facebook on April 18, has garnered more than 6 million views as of this writing.
- As part of a cultural event, the students danced to the song “Dolla Sign Slime” by rapper Lil Nas X.
- The “Tinikling” folk dance involves bamboo poles that are rhythmically tapped on the ground and knocked together repeatedly while dancers move in between the poles. It is traditionally performed to rondalla music.
A “Gen Z” performance of a traditional Philippine folk dance by students from Georgia Institute of Technology went viral on social media.
The university’s Filipino Student Association performed a modern interpretation of the “Tinikling” folk dance, the national dance of the Philippines, for a cultural event on April 16.
Georgia man uses his COVID-19 loan to purchase a $58,000 Pokémon card
A businessman from Dublin, Georgia, is in hot water after allegedly lying in his COVID-19 relief loan application and then using most of the funds to purchase a Pokémon card.
Like no one ever has: Vinath Oudomsine has been accused of misrepresenting his business’ revenue and its number of employees in his application for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), which was submitted in July last year. He was charged with one count of wire fraud on Tuesday, reported The Telegraph.
12 charged for burglaries worth $2.1 million on Asian American victims in Georgia
Twelve suspects were indicted earlier this month for targeting Asian American homes in Georgia’s Gwinnett County since 2019, authorities announced on Tuesday.
The allegations: The suspects are accused of forcing their way into the victims’ homes to steal money and designer valuables, including jewelry, watches and handbags. Overall, they managed to swipe about 200 items worth $2.1 million.
GA Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene vows to kick out every Chinese ‘loyal to CCP’ if she was in charge
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) would deport every last Chinese whose loyalty lies with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), if she had the power to do so.
Her plans: Greene, who represents Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, made her comments last Wednesday on Steve Bannon’s show, “War Room: Pandemic.” Aside from deporting Chinese people, the lawmaker said she would also impose strict tariffs.
GoFundMe created for gay Asian man in coma after being brutally assaulted in Atlanta
The Atlanta Police Department is investigating the case of a gay man who was found with a serious head injury on train tracks in the Lindbergh area of Buckhead early morning on July 11.
At the scene: Police were alerted to the 2100 block of Piedmont Road where someone saw Joshua Dowd, 28, alone and barely breathing as he laid on the train tracks with his head bleeding, reported CBS46.
Asian Woman Fatally Shot a Week Before Her Birthday in Georgia
Loved ones are mourning a 25-year-old Asian woman who was shot to death while driving home in Doraville, Ga., last week.
The details: Carmen Caiyi Lee, who was a week away from her birthday, was killed on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, just south of Tilly Mill Road, on the night of May 29.
Here Are All the Crowdfund Campaigns for the Atlanta Shooting Victims
On the evening of March 16, eight people were killed by Robert Aaron Long, 21, when he targeted three separate Asian-owned businesses in the Atlanta area.
Officials have since identified all the victims, including one who survived. As communities everywhere mourn the tragic losses, crowdfunding campaigns meant to help family members of the victims have started to appear. Here are the resources available to help those affected by the Atlanta shooting.
Hundreds of #StopAsianHate Supporters Hold Rally Over Mass Shooting in Atlanta
After the recent spa shootings in Georgia, which left eight people dead, six of whom were Asian women, hundreds of people attended an anti-racism rally in Atlanta on Saturday.
The rally, held at Atlanta’s Liberty Plaza, was attended by people of various backgrounds who gathered to commemorate the victims, CNN reports.
