Biden scraps Georgia political event after Atlanta shootings

[WASHINGTON] US President Joe Biden cancelled a planned political event to promote his coronavirus relief Bill in Atlanta on Friday after a series of shootings at three massage parlours in the city left eight dead.

Mr Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris will instead meet with Asian-American leaders in Georgia "to discuss the ongoing attacks and threats against the community", the White House said in a statement Thursday.

Mr Biden will also meet Stacey Abrams, a prominent Democrat and former gubernatorial candidate, according to a White House aide.

Six of the eight victims were Asian women, and the killings come amid a surge in violence targeting Asian Americans over the past year, as the coronavirus pandemic has seized the world.

Former President Donald Trump bears some responsibility for the violence, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, citing his offensive descriptions of the virus and its origins.

Members of Congress from both parties have largely condemned the killings and described the act as a hate crime against Asian Americans.

Some Republicans, however, expressed concern that criticising China and that country's handling of the coronavirus pandemic could be labelled as hate speech.

Speaking in a House hearing about discrimination against Asian Americans, Texas Representative Chip Roy, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, criticised the Chinese Communist Party and defended what he described as his right to free speech.

"My concern about this hearing is that it seems to want to venture into the policing of rhetoric in a free society and away from the rule of law and taking out bad guys," Mr Roy said.

Democratic subcommittee Chairman Steve Cohen said the incidents of discrimination discussed in the hearing - being spat at, slapped in the face, lit on fire, slashed with a box cutter - are not speech.

Representative Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, said he's "very aware of who the bad guys are and who our foreign enemies are, but this hearing is about Americans of Asian descent who are being targeted and the United States. It's not about policing speech." Police on Wednesday arrested Robert Aaron Long, a 21-year-old White man, in connection with the murders. That day, Mr Biden tweeted that while the motive for the crime remains unknown, the "Asian-American community is feeling enormous pain tonight".

"The recent attacks against the community are un-American," Mr Biden said. "They must stop."

The president also announced Thursday that he would order US flags on federal property lowered to half-staff in honour of the victims.

The scheduling change comes despite Mr Biden's original plans to use the trip to Georgia to promote his US$1.9 trillion virus relief package.

The state narrowly voted for him during the 2020 election, and then elected two Democratic senators in January runoff elections that focused heavily on Mr Biden's promise to deliver additional stimulus checks.

Mr Biden aides have said they believe promoting the benefits of the legislation will be crucial for the president's future political ambitions.

The president will visit the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters while in Atlanta, the White House said.

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