By Corinne Murdock |
Gov. Katie Hobbs assumed that the California mass shooting responsible for 10 deaths on the Chinese New Year was a hate crime against Asians. The suspected shooter was an Asian man, later found dead from self-inflicted gunshot wounds in a white van.
Though Hobbs apparently was unaware of the shooter’s race when she issued her Sunday morning statement, the governor assumed that the perpetrator was a non-Asian man committing a hate crime.
“These mass shootings can’t continue, and Arizona stands united with the AAPI community against hate,” wrote Hobbs.
Many pointed out that the suspected shooter was an Asian man.
GOP legislators criticized Hobbs’ response as a knee-jerk default to perceived racism.
Law enforcement issued a description of the suspected shooter on Sunday morning: a 5’10”, 150 lb Asian man, approximately 30 to 50 years old. The shooter killed 10 and wounded 10 after opening fire in a Monterey Park, California ballroom late Saturday night.
Police believe that the suspected shooter attempted to open fire at a second dance hall less than half an hour later, but those inside took the gun away from the suspect.
This isn’t the first time that Hobbs falsely claimed that a crime was motivated by hate. In October, after Hobbs’ campaign office was broken into, Hobbs’ campaign manager Nicole DeMont accused the perpetrator of being a political activist radicalized by her Republican opponent, Kari Lake.
“The threats against Arizonans attempting to exercise their constitutional rights and their attacks on elected officials are the direct result of a concerted campaign of lies and intimidation,” state Hobbs.
In reality, the burglar turned out to be a 36-year-old homeless illegal immigrant.
Though Hobbs has been outspoken about crimes that were or were perceived to be racially-motivated against non-white individuals, Hobbs has remained silent on hate crimes against white individuals. Hobbs didn’t issue any public statements regarding the Christmas parade massacre that killed six in Waukesha, Wisconsin in November 2021.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
