Walz orders flags lowered to half-staff to honor Georgia shooting victims

Gov. Tim Walz on Thursday ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff at Minnesota state buildings from sunrise until sunset on Monday to honor the eight people fatally shot Tuesday in Georgia.

"Tuesday's shooting in Atlanta targeting the Asian-Pacific Islander community was heartbreaking and abhorrent," the governor said in a prepared statement. "Tragically, it was not an isolated event. It follows an unacceptable rise in discrimination and racism targeting our Asian-Pacific Islander communities. We mourn the loss of the victims and stand in solidarity with Asian-Pacific communities during these difficult times."

A 21-year-old white man has been charged with killing eight people, most of them Asian American women, at three Atlanta-area massage parlors. The massacre, which came after a year of racist attacks on Asian Americans, has been marked with vigils and protests nationwide.