The Cut - They'll Call It Anything But Racism

Horrifying reports began circulating on Tuesday night of a mass shooting at multiple locations in Cherokee County, Georgia. In the hours after, some details were clear: A white man had gone on a shooting rampage at three Asian-owned massage businesses, killing eight people, six of them Asian women. Against a backdrop of rising anti-Asian violence and bias, it seemed obvious what his motivation was. And yet the next day — “very early” into the investigation, by the officers’ own admission — law enforcement outright dismissed the idea that the shooter could have been motivated by racism. “He claims that it was not racially motivated,” an official with the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office said at a press conference. “He apparently has an issue … what he considers a sex addiction … and he sees these locations as a temptation that he wanted to eliminate.”

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How Hollywood is complicit in the violence against Asians in America. You now have until May 17 to file your tax returns. The recent deportation of 33 Vietnamese refugees shows how far the U.S. still must go to progress its immigration system and combat anti-AAPI violence. Warren Buffett has sound advice for how to spend your stimulus check. HBO Max has ordered a two-part documentary series about the life and death of actress Brittany Murphy. Teen Vogue’s new editor has exited the job just days before she was set to start after backlash over racist tweets. And for a moment of escape: These lions at the Denver Zoo are loving the snow.

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