essex county board of county commissioners issues statement on atlanta area spa shootings
Pictured are (from left to right, front row) District 2 Commissioner President Wayne Richardson, Commissioner At-Large Romaine Graham, District 3 Commissioner Tyshammie L. Cooper, Commissioner At-Large Patricia Sebold, and Commissioner At-Large Brendan Gill. (From left to right, back row) District 5 Commissioner Vice President Carlos Pomares, District 4 Commissioner Leonard M. Luciano, Commissioner At-Large Rufus I. Johnson, and District 1 Commissioner Robert Mercado. PHOTO BY GLEN FRIESON”
On behalf of the Essex County Board of County Commissioners, President Wayne L. Richardson offers sincere condolences to the families of the eight people murdered during multiple shootings in the Atlanta area on Tuesday March 16th. We share the heartbreak and anguish of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities, to which 6 of the 8 victims belonged.
It is a sad, yet familiar circumstance, and as Americans, we should all feel our freedom has been threatened. This is not a time to be silent, as yet another ethnic group is targeted and attacked. We condemn the violent and horrific acts in Atlanta, and stand with the AAPI community against this and all other incidents of intimidation and violence.
Commissioner President Richardson stated, “If members of one group are violently attacked because of their race, ethnicity, religious beliefs or sexual orientation, we should all feel attacked. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, ‘I can see nothing more urgent than for America to work passionately and unrelentingly to get rid of the disease of racism’. We know that we must work passionately and unrelentingly to forge unity across all barriers.
The events of last Tuesday were reminiscent of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina nearly 6 years ago, and it is a sad irony that we are still facing the same issues Dr. King spoke to nearly 60 years ago. This was a tragic incident, and my heart goes out to the families of the victims, and the AAPI community.”