Cleaver to host Kansas City event denouncing racism after Atlanta killings
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II will host a conversation denouncing racism and violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders on Friday afternoon in the wake of an Atlanta shooting spree that claimed eight lives and sent shock waves through the Asian American community.
Cleaver’s office announced the event in a press release Thursday. The representative, whose House district covers the Kansas City area, is meeting with area community leaders and advocates in a demonstration of support for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, his office said.
Robert Aaron Long, 21, the white gunman, was charged Wednesday in the shooting deaths of eight women at three Atlanta-area massage parlors. Six of the victims were women of Asian descent.
The killings have sparked a wider conversation about acts of racially-motivated violence committed against Asian Americans, especially following a 2020 pandemic year when assaults targeting the community have spiked.
In a statement on Twitter Wednesday, Cleaver said he was “heartbroken” for the victims and their families.
The Kansas City community conversation is scheduled to take place Friday at 3 p.m. in The Gem Theater at 1615 E. 18th St.
Among those attending is James S. Kanki, the Honorary Consul of Japan. Others include Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, Missouri Rep. Emily Weber and Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.
