Atlanta suspect’s church renounces crimes

Crabapple First Baptist Church in Milton, Ga., said it would discontinue 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long’s membership following his arrest in connection with fatal shootings at massage parlors. “These unthinkable and egregious murders directly contradict his own confession of faith in Jesus and the gospel,” the church said in a statement. Eight people died in the shootings on Tuesday, six of whom were women of Asian descent. The church said in a statement that it does not teach that acts of violence are acceptable against “certain ethnicities or against women” or that women are responsible for men’s sexual sin against them.

Why did the shooter attack the businesses? Police have not said much since disclosing that Long claimed to have a “sex addiction” that allegedly led him to select his targets. On Friday, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris talked with Asian American leaders in Atlanta about how the shootings affected them. “We really talked about the grief people are feeling, the fear people are feeling, the possible responses to that,” said Georgia state Rep. Martin Lim, who attended the meeting.

Dig deeper: Read Emily Belz’s report on harassment and assaults against Asian Americans in New York.