I have friends that are laotian and they've been impacted by this because of the increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans and then to see this makes it even more devastating.

To call this anything other than a hate crime is wrong. I know there was a sheriff who tried to condone it and say he was having a bad day. I find it interesting that when it is a white American, excuses are made such as mental illness, sex addiction or any of the others we've seen in the media.

However when it's a person of color it's terrorism. Example of this is the events in Colorado, it didn't take long after the shooters name had been released for people to say he's an Islamic terrorist. The shooters family has come out and said the man was seriously mentally ill (I'm holding judgment till I learn more) but that's being ignored because he's Islamic or has an Islamic last name.

This example, along with many show why people are trying really hard to speak out about the Atlanta shooting and make it known that it was a hate crime. Unfortunately, there are going to be people in society who continue to deny it and there's nothing much that can change them unless they want to change and acknowledge the rampant racism within the USA