Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Freethinker

Home
Nonreligious
Church disowns Atlanta spas shooter; police investigator removed

Church disowns Atlanta spas shooter; police investigator removed

Last updated on: March 20, 2021 at 5:15 pm by Barry Duke

Church disowns Atlanta spas shooter; police investigator removed 2021-03-20T17:15:20+02:00 Barry Duke

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Images via YouTube and Twitter

OVER the last couple of days two new developments have occurred in the case of mass shooter Robert Aaron Long: his church has removed him, and a spokesman for a Georgia Sheriff’s Office – Captain Jay Baker, above, – was taken off the case after it emerged that he had used social media to promoting T-shirts with racist language about China and the coronavirus.

Crabapple First Baptist Church in Milton, Georgia, said in a fresh statement that it plans to remove 21-year-old Long from its membership because it:

Can no longer affirm that he is truly a regenerate believer in Jesus Christ.

Previously the church had only issued a lame statement expressing condolences for the victims – mainly Asian women and their families – without mentioning Long himself. It also shut down its social media accounts and made its website private.

On Friday it said those measures were taken to protect the safety of its congregants.

The statement said:

We watched Aaron grow up and accepted him into church membership when he made his own profession of faith in Jesus Christ. These unthinkable and egregious murders directly contradict his own confession of faith in Jesus and the gospel.

Meanwhile The Cherokee County Communications Director Erika Neldner announce that she would be handling media inquiries related to Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office’s investigation into Tuesday’s slayings.

The statement did not give details about the currennt status of Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Baker. He’d been the target of widespread criticism for Facebook posts promoting the T-shirts and also for saying during a news conference Wednesday that murder suspect Robert Aaron Long, 21, had “a really bad day” and “this is what he did.”

The shirts post went viral shortly after Baker drew criticism for both seeming to distance the case from being a hate crime while also telling reporters that Long had a “really bad day.”

Asian American activists said Baker’s comments and the Facebook post undermine public confidence that investigators are adequately addressing Tuesday’s atrocity.

Said Vincent Pan, co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, a civil rights organisation working to address anti-Asian hate crimes:

To see this post is both disturbing and outrageous. It speaks to the structural racism that we’re all up against.

Coupled with the comments coming out of the news conference, it does not give community members confidence that our experiences and the pain and the suffering that we’re feeling are being taken seriously, at least by this particular person.

At least one prominent Democrat, Rep. Ted Lieu of California, called for the investigation to be handled by the FBI due to all the controversy, saying he wouldn’t:

Have confidence in the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office to conduct a fair investigation that respected the Asian victims.

He is quoted in this report as saying:

All of us have experienced bad days. But we don’t go to three Asian businesses and shoot up Asian employees.

A Facebook account, belonging to a “Jay Baker”, features numerous photos of Cherokee County sheriff going back months, including one in which he is in uniform outside the sheriff’s office. The account was deleted on Wednesday night.

Six of the eight victims of Tuesday’s attacks were of Asian descent, including two of the four victims who were killed in Cherokee County.

Baker did not respond to voicemails and an email requesting comment on the Facebook post. The sheriff’s office also did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

• Please report any typos/errors to [email protected]

If you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee – and boy, do I get through a LOT of coffee keeping this site active – please click the link below.

I’d love a cup of coffee

Previous Post

March 19, 2021

Trouble in Paradise: Gun-toting Jesus declared 'blasphemous'

Next Post

March 20, 2021 Wales accused of favouring atheism over religion in schools

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Archive My Atheism News Opinion Reviews Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 March 2007 April 2006 February 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who baptized Jesus?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Paul John the Baptist Peter Elijah

Books by This Author Books by The Freethinker

See All Titles »