In April, while patrolling San Franciscos Chinatown, a former mayor and son of immigrants from Taishan and Hong Kong pointed to the bank across the street and told me his mother was mugged there a few years ago. February 4, 2021 / 6:00 AM The suspect was booked on suspicion of murder, elder abuse, and assault with a deadly weapon, KTVU reported. But the steps were nearly empty. San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin hassparked outrage on social mediaafter telling the New York Times that 19-year-old AntoineWatsonwas "in some sort of a temper tantrum" when he allegedly attacked84-year-oldThai immigrant Vichar Ratanapakdee. Some assailants have yelled slurs while throwing a punch or slashing at their victims with a knife. MonthanusRatanapakdee with her husband, Eric Lawson. Legal Statement. eventAction: 'view' Police arrested two people Saturday in connection with Thursday's filmed attack that left an elderly California man dead. On the far side of the bridge, where the bay meets the Pacific, the engine stopped. another video that rocketed around the internet. Walking was how he explored San Francisco when he first arrived there from Thailand in 2000, to spend a year with Monthanus while she attended business school, and again in 2018, to help take care of her two sons. You can dial 311 or 911, she reminded them. Activists have argued the rise in hate incidentsshows a pattern of abuse related to blame placed on the Asian American community for the coronavirus pandemic. concluded that the gunman, who killed himself after the shooting, had not acted out of bias or a desire to advance an ideology, but suffered from a mental illness and had committed suicidal murder. The Sikh Coalition, an advocacy group, published a statement asking the bureau to clarify how and why it ruled out bias as a motive: Though law enforcement has said this investigation is over, for all the families who lost loved ones, the survivors, the Sikh community and anyone else impacted by hate violence, these questions will remain forever.. After Vicha died, Eric says, he saw so many videos, video after video of attacks in the news. Antoine didnt wake up Jan. 28, 2021, with the idea of shoving somebody down and killing them, regardless of their race or gender. Body camera footage of the encounter led officers to identify Watson and a female associate he was with at the time of the assault. Anyone can read what you share. She stepped out to check the front and the back of their building. Video footage shows the teen running at Ratanapakdee and pushing him over, knocking him to the ground. Former President Donald Trump repeatedly described the coronavirus or COVID-19 as the "Chinese virus," a reference to its outbreak from Wuhan, China. The man had accepted a plea agreement for domestic-violence charges, and afterward his victim asked the judge if she could say a few words. The day after Monthanus and Erics first TV appearance, San Franciscos district attorney charged Antoine Watson, the 19-year-old accused of shoving Vicha to death, with murder and elder abuse. She remains puzzled why on the morning of the attack he left without his Buddhist amulet, a talisman of protection that he always wore around his neck. When they got home, he pulled out her phone, and instead of putting on his usual cartoons, he scrolled through her photos. But we dont want to give up, because unless everybodys safe in that community, nobody is., Lyslynn Lacoste, who runs a city program called BMAGIC and works with Wans group, told me that undoing misperceptions between communities had no quick fix. There were debates among Black residents about what contributed to the shortage of affordable housing, Lacoste says, but tension also took subtler, more pervasive forms the kind she could feel most recently at a neighborhood beauty-supply store when an Asian clerk followed her as she shopped. Ratanapakdee's head hit the pavement as he fell. His killing came at a time when other disturbing images and reports were emerging from across the San Francisco Bay. ET on March 15. . She turned around to my son and said, Eff you, little boy. Each incident left her in shock and compelled her to attend the vigil. Sliman Nawabi, a deputy public defender representing Watson, disputed the perception that the attack was racially motivated. A web camera streamed the ceremony for friends and family abroad. Its nonstop, you know? She thought about the people she had met at the rallies who had quit their jobs to patrol or speak out full time. SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) - An 84-year-old California man is dead after a seemingly random daylight attack in the Anza Vista neighborhood of San Francisco, video from ABC 7 News shows. When Wan first set up her branch there, the Bayview was in the midst of a drastic demographic shift that was occurring throughout the region, marked by an influx of Asians and an exodus of Black residents. Eric, who grew up near San Jose, described himself as someone who never thought much about race during his upbringing. October 2021. How long did he lie outside before an ambulance arrived? Watson allegedly carried out the deadly attack on senior citizen Vicha Ratanapakdee in the citys Anza Vista neighborhood on January 28, 2021. SAN FRANCISCO -- A suspect has been taken into custody following a deadly explosion and fire Thursday at a home in San Francisco's Sunset District that police said was being used as a clandestine drug lab.San Francisco police identified the suspect as 53-year-old Darron Price of San Francisco. Her mother had been blaming karma for her fathers death; weakened by his recent heart operations, Vicha often joked that life was getting too painful to bear. Today she had prepared a speech and printed a few copies to distribute to reporters. Tuesday morning, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Police Chief Bill Scott and District Attorney Chesa Boudin denounced the recent rise in violent crimes in the city, particularly the fatal assaults on Ratanapakdee and 76-year-old private investigator Jack Palladino. Theres been a half-million deaths. An assailant, later identified by police as 19-year-old Antoine Watson, came barreling . As they waited for Antoines hearing to start, Monthanus and Eric watched from the front row of the gallery as the judge heard a series of other cases. Antoine Watson, a 19-year-old resident of Daly City, made his first court appearance at the Hall of Justice after being taken into custody . The law was celebrated for recognizing the need to better track violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. But it also drew criticism for effectively endorsing more policing at a time when law enforcement faced intense scrutiny, as well as for failing to address the root causes of racism or crime. In each case, the suspects were Black. A few steps away, she noticed a dark stain at the end of a driveway. Two suspects have been arrested. }) hitType: 'event', }); The court system, which they thought would deliver swift justice, was confoundingly slow. Any other narrative is false, misleading, and divisive. Nawabi added that Watson comes from a biracial family background and had no knowledge of Mr. Ratanapakdees race or vulnerabilities since the elderly man was wearing a mask, hat, sweater and jeans. His public defender, Sliman Nawabi, challenged the murder charge, arguing that Watson did not intend to kill Vicha. She wasnt sure if Troy even knew what was happening. Ratanapakdee is seen walking in the driveway of a home when the suspect barrels him into the victim violently, knocking him to the ground before the suspect casually walks away in the same direction he came from. Vicha had lost so much blood by then that even if a second operation succeeded, he would almost certainly lose his most basic functions for the rest of his life. His mother, who was also laid off from her job during lockdown, found work through relatives in another state and was, for a while, supporting the family from afar. eventAction: 'click_adunit' Weitere Informationen ber die Verwendung Ihrer personenbezogenen Daten finden Sie in unserer Datenschutzerklrung und unserer Cookie-Richtlinie. I want to know what happened. She told me, Go wash the blood right away, Monthanus says. Thats not who he is. Steiner, who was Antoines elementary-school principal, said he needed mental-health support, not prison time. Ratanapakdee was walking in the Anza Vista neighborhood of San Francisco on the morning of January 28 when 19-year-old Antoine Watson ran across the street and violently shoved him to the ground. I believe people are better than the worst things they have done," said Breed. I want to know why, she said. document.querySelector("#adunit").addEventListener('click',function(){ Believe Attack Was Racially Motivated., Amanda Nguyen, a prominent activist, shared Sernoffskys report. The spokespersonnotedthat, if there were such documents, police could and would not be able to release them due to the incident being under an active homicide investigation. She had learned small details about the suspect from her initial conversations with the police: male, 19 years old, African American. A photograph of Vicha Ratanapakdee that hangs in his daughters home. The San Francisco District Attorney's office told KPIX 5 on Monday that their detention motion to hold 19-year-old Antoine Watson without bail was granted by the court. Police officers issued him a citation. That week, on Feb. 4, the couple spoke with San Franciscos district attorney, Chesa Boudin, on a call. Yet today I still face people from the Black community who will come into our office on a weekly basis, saying that we only care about our people, that we just take their resources. A victims advocate assigned by the district attorneys office helped the couple apply for state reimbursement for the cremation, the funeral and other expenses. This is in part because the defendant already faces a long prison sentence, and also because, as one prosecutor put it, its impossible to know whats in someones heart. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported in June that federal prosecutors declined to pursue hate-crimes charges in about four out of every five cases from 2005 to 2019, citing insufficient evidence.. Right, Mr. Vicha receiving the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine. In the appeal, the family asked residents in San Francisco to contact the local district attorney Chesa Boudin to ensure that Antoine Watson and Ms Maylasia Goo, a 19-year-old woman charged as an accessory to the crime, face the full force of the law for what they describe as a racially motivated hate crime. However, his comment to the Timeshassparked the hashtags#JusticeForVicha and #StopAsianHate on social media, which come amid a startling increase in hate incidentsagainst Asian Americans across the United States. She watched him for several more hours, his hand in hers. Often, the natural human response is to want someone to blame for the pain that youre experiencing. He added, Although our system is pretty effective at processing cases and punishing, were not effective at providing the kinds of answers to families in pain and need to feel a sense of closure, or to be able to move on with their lives after suffering often unthinkable harm., Most states 48, as well as the District of Columbia have laws addressing hate crimes that are motivated by a victims race, religion or sexual orientation, among other classifications. The grandmother of a teen who senselessly pushed and killed a Thai grandfather has said her grandson should walk free. Three days later an attacker shoved a 91-year-old man in Oaklands Chinatown to the ground, another video that rocketed around the internet. I killed Dad.. It appears that the defendant was in some sort of a temper tantrum, Mr. Boudin said. He was the one who encouraged her to go to the United States, the reason she started her life here. San Francisco police say their suspect Antoine Watson, 19, attacked the senior along Anza Vista and Fortuna Avenues Thursday morning. Monthanus was too emotional then. ga('ads.send', { Breed said that she had the support of both the police department and the District Attorney's office in her stance. In a quiet room upstairs draped in gold and red, she knelt before a shrine of Buddhas, vases filled with fresh tulips and a black-and-white portrait of her father. Why did this happen? Another witness said he heard a voice yelling: Why you looking at me? There was no longer any way to ignore the violence that was happening to people who look like us, Mr. Ham said. Jaeah Lee is a magazine journalist based in San Francisco, with a focus on criminal justice. One witness at the scene told officers that he saw . A photograph of Vicha Ratanapakdee that hangs in his daughters home.CreditKevin Kunishi for The New York Times. She thought about her father in the back of the car with the kids, their banter when she got ready for work in the morning. "The rise in hate incidents against Asian Americans during the pandemic is alarming. Someone had been falsely claiming to reporters that he was Vichas son and spoke on behalf of the family about what would happen to his remains. He washed his face, put on a baseball cap and face mask and told his wife he would have the coffee she had prepared for him when he returned. When Monthanus talked about these incidents, how the outside world didnt feel safe anymore, her father would ask, Is it really that bad? hitType: 'event', Monthanus and Eric posed for photos and signed a petition to recall Chesa Boudin, as people stopped to greet them with elbow bumps and condolences. Police said they were quickly able to identify Watson as the assault suspect. The killing of a Thai man in America has given voice to a united community under the umbrella of an Asian-American identity. He was arrested along with Maylasia Goo, 20 . Officers discovered an 84-year-old man lying on the sidewalk, rendered aid and summoned medics to transport the victim to a hospital for life-threatening injuries. A witness told police officers that Mr. Watson said something to the effect of What are you looking at? A security camera located inside a neighbors apartment captured Mr. Watson charging across the pavement toward Mr. Vicha, who briefly turned to his assailant before the impact. Due to the pandemic, the court had reopened at limited capacity to an enormous backlog. And though half of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the Bay Area are low- or very-low-income, as defined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (a quarter live in high-income households), they are often seen as beneficiaries of rising inequality. She clutched a few sheets of paper in one hand. Before his third heart operation, Vicha debated whether to go through with the procedure; he wasnt sure if he would make it. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/27/us/asian-american-hate-crimes.html. She guessed he would have walked in a clockwise loop from their building she often suggested he take that route because it included an uphill stretch that would help him get some cardio. For his family, the death has been devastating both in California and abroad. $300,000 a year is roughly what a family of four needs to earn to live a middle-class lifestyle in the Bay Area. 'Very open to the idea': Julia Wandelt takes DNA test to verify if she is missing Swiss girl Livia Schepp, Kayla Lemieux: Teacher with prosthetic Z-cup breasts suspended WITH PAY after pics show her dressed as man, Michael Schneider: Psychic detective gives '100%' verdict on whether Julia Wandelt is Madeleine McCann, Lindsay Clancy case: Psychologist reveals psychosis red flags family members could have spotted, 'I'd be horrified if my kids did that': Internet slams eight-year-old's pregnant mom for enabling 'disgusting' behavior. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. There were several violent crimes in San Francisco on Thursday, the article began. SAN FRANCISCOAntoine Watson, 19, who was arrested on January 30 for the deadly assault on an elderly man, 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee, was held without bail after a court hearing on Monday, February 8. The video shows that the elderly man had no opportunity to protect himself, Assistant District Attorney Sean Connolly wrote in a motion seeking to detain Watson. If he had been murdered, Monthanus asked Eric, why wasnt it on the news? During one appointment, the therapist asked if he felt angry, and he replied in that sheepish preteen way, I dont know. Monthanus knew the extra sessions were probably a lot, on top of school, weekend Thai and coding classes and the therapist he already sees to manage his A.D.H.D. People use the "young teenager" label on him as an excuse to obviously protect him and his behavior. The attack came with such a speed that Ratanapakdee was thrown backward and he landed on the pavement. Watson, the suspect identified in Ratanapakdee's murder,wasarrested and chargedwith murder and elder abuse. SAN FRANCISCO Weary of being cooped inside during the pandemic, . There is outrage over San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin's description of the man police say pushed over and killed an 84-year-old in San Francisco. media-tech companies with hubs around the world. if(document.querySelector("#google_image_div")){ The Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act, passed with bipartisan support and signed into law by President Biden in May, primarily aims to improve crime reporting and data collection. In order to raise 10 children in the San Francisco Bay Area, we should assume Antoine Watson's parents make at least $300,000 a year. San Francisco police arrested a 19-year-old man on suspicion of murder following a recent attack on an 84-year-old man in the Anza Vista neighborhood. Where did the assault happen? Monthanus arrived at the steps of the San Francisco Hall of Justice, an imposing concrete building that spans a city block, where Antoine Watson was scheduled to appear for a pretrial hearing. ALSO READ: San Francisco Mayor, Police Chief, DA Condemn Fatal Assaults On Seniors; Vow To Address Violence. }); 19-year-old Antoine Watson, pushing . }); It was the type of forceful body blow that might have knocked unconscious a young football player in full protective pads. Mr. Vichas cremated remains have been placed in two urns. As Vicha recovered from each operation, Monthanus had slept on the floor next to his bed, comforting him through the pain. On that morning a number of security cameras in the area captured Mr. Watson banging a car with his hand, according to Mr. Boudin, the district attorney. Vicha and his first grandson, Titus Lawson, in 2009. Can I see my father? she asked. She had always looked to her father when something troubled her conscience. The group filed out to the edge of the deck. She heard him say severe trauma. The officer said she would have to call the hospital to find out more. Police pulled over and handcuffed Antoine Watson hours before he allegedly killed an 84-year-old Thai man in San Francisco's Anza Vista neighborhood last year, according to a timeline that . She added thatRatanapakdee's family was "horrified" when she relayed the information. I think he has to pay for what he did. They asked the state attorney generals office to help them track what they believed to be a growing number of episodes. Antoine Watson held in attack on 84-year-old victim. New images have continued to surface on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis. In February, two joggers, women, yelled something about germs at her older son as he played on a dock with a friend. When she made it to the hill, she noticed a neighbor working in his garage and asked if he knew where the episode happened the other day. Stories like Vichas inspired some to start neighborhood-patrol groups to accompany elders on their walks to and from home, scan the streets for suspicious activity and, in some cases, call the police to intervene. Last year Ms. Monthanus, Mr. Vichas daughter, was twice accosted on the street by people who told her to leave the country because, the attackers said, Asians had caused the coronavirus. This is a hate crime.. In March, Jeung says, Stop AAPI Hate received roughly 2,800 reports, about the same number he received in all of 2020. hitType: 'event', Initial investigation by SIT/General Crimes Unit identified the male suspect as 19-year-old Antoine Watson of Daly City and the female associate as 20-year-old Maylasia Goo of Daly City. Still, at a time when demands for racial justice have rocked a demographically evolving nation, the killing of Mr. Vicha was notable for the galvanizing anger it brought to a diverse group that encompasses people of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, South Asian and Southeast Asian heritage. The question is: Does it prevent things like this from happening again? She continued: Regardless of the laws intent, how its received is, This is disingenuous, because were using the same tools to fix the problem. San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin has sparked outrage on social media after telling the New York Times that 19-year-old Antoine Watson was "in some sort of a temper tantrum" when he . Betty Louie, an adviser to the San Francisco Chinatown Merchants Association, remembered that back when she had owned gift shops in the neighborhood, 25 years ago, "we . Monthanus wore a black wool cloak over a pleated dress that flew up as the boat pulled away from the dock. The rallies had become a place where the couple could not only feel less alone in their grief but also seek answers they couldnt seem to get elsewhere. Officers arrested Antoine Watson, 19, and his female companion . And the fact that another human being would do that to an elderly senior in our community is one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen," said the mayor. I wonder if its my inner racism coming out. SAN FRANCISCO Weary of being cooped inside during the pandemic, Vicha Ratanapakdee was impatient for his regular morning walk. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. The trust-building really took us 10 years, Wan says. In an unprovoked attack, Antoine Watson, 19, charged at Vichar Ratanapakdee, 84, on Thursday during the senior's morning walk. He told me that Watson lost his job and support structure during the pandemic; in addition to attending college classes and working at FedEx, he had previously gone to therapy and taken medication. . Its not because we feel bad, Monthanus told me one evening while sitting on the bed where her father used to sleep, Titus playing video games nearby. For Mr. Vicha, who stood 5 feet 6 inches and weighed 113 pounds, the attack was fatal. News of a viral outbreak in Wuhan had started circulating in the international news media. },false) San Francisco Mayor London Breed, joined by several other elected officials including City Attorney David Chiu, State Senator Scott Wiener, and Supervisors Catherine Stefani and Rafael Mandelman, led the crowd in marching and chanting slogans. When Ms. Monthanus expressed her desire to go to graduate school two decades ago, Mr. Vicha supported her decision to enroll in business school at the University of California, Berkeley. window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('impressionViewable', function(event) { Inside, Monthanus held her composure as her frustration grew. His orange jumpsuit fit loosely over his tall frame, chains linking his wrists, his hair growing out. She worried how the exposure affected her sons. According to Sliman Nawabi, the public defender, Antoine feels remorse and shame for what happened and wishes he could sit down with Vichas family so he could explain the struggles he has gone through in life. I told him to walk that way. Mr. Vichas second shot was scheduled for Feb. 12, an appointment he would not live to make. During her own speech that day, which she wrote by hand and rehearsed the night before, Monthanus told the crowd to call the city, including the police, for help when necessary. 3 min read. He must be happy now, because hes not coming back anymore! And sometimes, when they were alone and the guilt swelled inside Monthanus, she fell apart. Instead, he paused for a moment and turned right, as though whatever caught his eye made him decide to change course. (Eric, who worked at two restaurants as a server and manager before the pandemic, was on unemployment.) Everyone fell silent. Allen Martin reports on the first court appearance by the 19-year-old suspect who fatally assaulted an 84-year-old San Francisco man last week (2-3-2021) Maylasia Goo also arrested. The Thai grandfather had just survived his heart surgery 9 months before, and his doctor told him to walk daily for his exercise. It looked like blood, but she wasnt sure. Others have injured or killed people without saying a word. Bei der Nutzung unserer Websites und Apps verwenden wir, unsere Websites und Apps fr Sie bereitzustellen, Nutzer zu authentifizieren, Sicherheitsmanahmen anzuwenden und Spam und Missbrauch zu verhindern, und, Ihre Nutzung unserer Websites und Apps zu messen, personalisierte Werbung und Inhalte auf der Grundlage von Interessenprofilen anzuzeigen, die Effektivitt von personalisierten Anzeigen und Inhalten zu messen, sowie, unsere Produkte und Dienstleistungen zu entwickeln und zu verbessern. When we go to the beach we can dream that he is with us., She plans to bring the other urn back to her fathers hometown in southern Thailand, where the local Buddhist temple has a stupa that holds the familys remains. pg.acq.push(function() { On her drive home, Monthanus thought about a defendant she saw earlier in the courtroom.
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