Good afternoon. This is for Howard with the Daily Beast. It's Thursday March 18th, and these are the top stories that Chi Chi Team is watching right now. Two former housemates of the man charged with eight counts of murder after shooting up three Asian-American spas.
Say he previously attended a rehab center for sex addiction. Robert Aaron Long allegedly shot and killed eight people, including six Asian-American women. Long supposedly blamed the victims for creating a sexual temptation. According to his former housemates, Long would visit massage parlors for sex and then Waller in self-loading pity about it for days.
One housemate said Long is a Christian, which was an added element that fueled his self-hatred. It's interesting how their focus seems to be about his alleged Christianity rather than the victims being of the same ethnic group. Apparently, it was not just his age to say they were subject to harassment. Women journalists say they've experienced creepy behavior from near Governor Andrew Cuomo too.
In recent weeks, stories have emerged about how Cuomo allegedly treated women who work for him, from requiring them to dress a certain way to grabbing their breasts and asking if they slept with older men. But reporters have started to speak up too. At a press conference in 2007, one woman fresh on the politics beat said how Cuomo kept staring at her while she sat with a press. It was so blatant that even other people noticed his incessant looks.
At the time, Cuomo was the state attorney general. After the press conference, one of Cuomo's aides allegedly called the woman at her job and asked if she would be interested in working with Cuomo's office. A woman who worked as a New York Daily News editorial board member called sexual harassment and now, be quote, as pervasive as air. To some, Cuomo's behavior is merely a symptom of the misogynistic culture in the New York State Capitol.
Long time, Albany reported that Cuomo was both a product and perpetuated of this culture, a hyper masculine environment in which women could play roles of being either attractive or ignored. It was revealed Wednesday that the deputy of Cherokee County, who said the shooter of the Atlanta area massage parlors had a quote, Bad day promoted racist propaganda online. That propaganda included t-shirts with a slogan quote, COVID-19 imported virus from China. Well, the deputy, Jay Baker, happens to own Deadline Apparel LLC, which also received a coronavirus related paycheck protection program loan.
A few weeks after Baker praised the company on his personal Facebook page, Deadline Apparel received more than $15,000 in May 2020. Until the website went offline, the shirts were being advertised by Deadline Apparel for $22 and included a yellow biohazard symbol. The company also sold a shirt that featured a bat spreading its wings alongside the words, quote, Eat less bats. Behind the bat, there's an open white takeout box with a pair of red chopsticks inside with the phrase, quote, No, thank you written at the top.
Experts and advocates say the anti-Asian racism behind shirts like the ones Baker promoted has fueled a horrific surge in violence against Asian Americans. The threat has grown even more after Tuesday's mass shootings. The fact that a law enforcement official was involved in that very investigation has also been connected to the same racism, only makes the situation more dire. Do racists not hear themselves when they talk?
Republican Representative Chip Roy of Texas kicked off a Thursday house hearing on violence and discrimination against Asian Americans. By going off on the Chinese Communist Party, before diving into a passionate rant about lynchings, saying he takes, quote, Justice very seriously, and he was not speaking out against lynchings. Roy first acknowledged that the shootings in the Atlanta area were a tragedy and the quote, victims of race-based violence and their families deserve justice. He probably should have stopped talking there, but instead he continued saying, quote, The victims of cartels moving illegal aliens deserve justice.
The American citizens in South Texas deserve justice. The victims of rioting and looting in the street last summer deserve justice. It's interesting how he blasts racial discrimination only to do it himself by the end of his speech. Anyways, he follows the statement, quote, There's an old saying in Texas about find all the rope in Texas and get a tall oak tree.
You know, we take justice very seriously and we ought to do that. Round up the bad guys. That's what we believe. What's crazy is that the two ways behind Roy while he spoke did not even appear to bad an eyelash when he praised the practice of hanging people from trees.
In comparison to last week, coronavirus cases are now up by more than 10% and 14 states this week. Half of those states are seeing a rise of more than 20%. Some experts are now warning that the US could be heading toward yet another virus spike this spring. The worst acceleration of infections has been recorded in Michigan, but Delaware, Montana, Alabama and West Virginia have also seen alarming increases.
That's all for today. Check back every weekday morning and afternoon for more of the news you need to know. Find us wherever you listen to podcasts.