US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have condemned a “heinous act of violence” during a trip to Atlanta, hoping to console a city and Asian American communities rocked by the attack this week that left 8 people dead and one injured.

Delivering remarks on Friday evening at Emory University after a day spent meeting with Asian American community leaders and politicians, the president and vice-president spoke out forcefully against the shooting, in which six of the victims were women of Asian descent, as well as the rise in anti-Asian violence.

“Racism is real in America. And it has always been. Xenophobia is real in America and always has been. Sexism, too,” said Harris, calling the shootings a “heinous act of violence”. Biden said “it was heart-wrenching to listen to” Asian American state legislators and other community leaders discuss living in fear.

“Hate can have no safe harbor in America,” Biden said, calling on Americans to stand up to bigotry when they see it. “Our silence is complicity. We cannot be complicit.” “The president and I will not be silent. We will not stand by. We will always speak out against violence, hate crimes and discrimination, wherever and whenever it occurs.

“Whatever the killer’s motive, these facts are clear,” Harris added: six of the eight people killed were of Asian descent, seven were women, and “the shootings took place in businesses owned by Asian Americans”.

The visit comes amid a nationwide surge in verbal and physical attacks against Asian Americans. Both Biden and Harris spoke to the rise in anti-Asian violence over the past year, with Biden alluding to Donald Trump and other Republicans who have repeatedly demonized China for the coronavirus.

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