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Is Captain Jay Baker racist? Georgia sheriff's spokesperson posted offensive T-shirt blaming China for Covid-19

'You should be ashamed of your poor choice of words and attempting to minimize a person murdering 8 people. Many of them Asian,' said a livid social media user

Cherokee County, Georgia, Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Captain Jay Baker was slammed on Wednesday, March 17 afternoon for his take on the deadly salon shooting by a 21-year-old that took 8 lives.

“Yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did,” Baker said during the joint news conference with the Atlanta Police Department about the mass shooter, Robert Aaron Long. Baker also said that Long told the investigators he has “sexual addiction” issues and targeted the spas to “take out that temptation.” But as soon as Baker made the statement, he was dragged on social media for dismissing the entire situation. In fact, the Internet found out that he earlier posted racist content on social media. His racist posts included some blaming China for the Covid-19 pandemic, the same vitriol advocates say has fueled a horrific surge in violence against Asian-Americans.

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In one of the posts on Facebook, he shared a link and encouraged his friends to buy T-shirts with the slogan “COVID-19 imported virus from CHY-NA.” “Place your order while they last,” Baker wrote with a smiley face on a March 30, 2020 snap that included the racist T-shirts. “Love my shirt,” Baker wrote in another post in April 2020. “Get yours while they last.'” The online T-shirt store, Deadline Appeal, is owned by a former deputy sheriff from Cherokee County and the said clothing cost $22.

The store, which promotes fully customizable clothes, also appears to print shirts for the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office Honor Guard, a “ceremonial unit, all volunteers, who represent not only the Sheriff's Office but also the county when participating in a variety of events,” according to a March 10 Instagram post. Soon, a petition page on Change.org was made by Ariel Mintram, where people started signing a petition asking Baker to resign. "This is unacceptable.  How can Jay Baker swear to serve a protect the AAPI community in Cherokee County if he participates in spreading racist ideology?  Its no wonder that he wouldn't even mutter the words "hate crime" and instead chose to focus on the shooter having a "bad day"."

As soon as Baker's statement about Long and his previous racist social media posts came to light, people started talking about it. One Internet user said: "You know who’s gonna have a really bad day, Jay Baker? You when you’re forced to resign. Buh-bye." Posting screenshots, another one said: "White Captain Jay Baker, established as an anti-Asian racist, excusing white serial killer also with established anti-Asian posts inciting violence, but @CherokeePD insists these killings weren't "racially motivated' and #JayBaker is fit for this job??? #StopAsianHateCrimes"

One person requested: "Jay Baker should be fired tonight." And another one questioned Cherokee Police Department saying: "@CherokeeSO Why is your chosen spokesperson Capt. Jay Baker wearing Covid 19 shirts blaming it on "Chy-na"? No wonder he attributes the murder of 8 people the majority Asian-American women, to a white supremacist mass killer having a "Really bad day"."

Slamming him, another one said, "Racist piece of crap Jay Baker needs to either be fired or step down, immediately." While one tweeted: "And Capt. Jay Baker a person who doesn't decide to murder 8 people because they "had a bad day." You should be ashamed of your poor choice of words and attempting to minimize a person murdering 8 people. Many of them Asian"

Authorities arrested Long, a Georgia native on Tuesday, March 16, after investigators said he opened fire at three separate metro Atlanta spas earlier in the day, killing eight people and injuring one other.

These remarks were made by the Internet and individual organizations, MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and nor does it support these claims being made on the Internet.