He was cited by the San Francisco police for running a stop sign and reckless driving and then slept that night in his car. }); a 91-year-old shoved to the ground in Chinatown in Oakland, Calif., a white gunman in the Atlanta area drove to several businesses and shot eight people to death. SAN FRANCISCO, CAA San Francisco African-American teen accused of murdering 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee in January 2021 was ordered to stand trial, a judge ruled Friday.. Anita Nabha, 20-year-old Antoine Watson's attorney, said he was distressed after a "stressful encounter with police hours earlier" and may not have known the man was elderly, reports the San . The San Francisco Chronicle reports supporters of the victim's family packed the courtroom wearing "justice for Vicha" t-shirts.. Video of the incident went viral and came to symbolize the spike in anti-Asian hate, although the San Francisco District Attorney . Weitere Informationen ber die Verwendung Ihrer personenbezogenen Daten finden Sie in unserer Datenschutzerklrung und unserer Cookie-Richtlinie. . if(document.querySelector("#ads")){ In the United States and elsewhere, private schools asked their Chinese international students not to return for the spring semester; shopkeepers turned away customers who appeared Asian; Chinatowns emptied. He left his home because of a family dispute and got in a traffic accident in San Francisco at 2 a.m. On the same day, Watson was apprehended at his home in Daly City along with 20-year-old Maylasia Goo . He disliked the chilly and wet San Francisco winter and missed his favorite southern Thai dishes and his extended family and friends. KGO obtained surveillance footage which apparently shows Antoine Watson, 19, knocking down Vicha Ratanapakdee, 84, in front of his San Francisco home.Officers reportedly discovered Ratanapakdee on a sidewalk and rendered aid before paramedics rushed him to the hospital . Image: San Francisco District Attorney . She said: You are not a victim. Its been a year of pent-up anger and frustration directed toward Asians, he says. SAN FRANCISCO Weary of being cooped inside during the pandemic, Vicha Ratanapakdee was impatient for his regular morning walk. }); Antoine Watson appears in court during a previous hearing. Police haven't said anything about a possible motive but they have arrested 19-year-old Antoine Watson and charged him with elder abuse, assault with a deadly weapon and murder. It was the deadliest mass shooting in the country in more than a year. But AAPI still attacked, deeper, deeper every day. While it does not change the legal definition of a hate crime, the legislation commits funds to fast-track federal reviews of hate-crime investigations and approves grants for local law enforcement agencies. . That Antoine was still young. 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. First published on February 8, 2021 / 3:17 PM. We're less than two weeks away from the start of NFL free agency, which begins at 4 p.m. Kevin Kunishi is an American photographer living in Oakland, Calif., who is known for creating long-form projects that explore aftermath, trauma and identity. She wanted to be strong for her sons, but she had trouble sleeping at night and broke into tears unexpectedly. So we created our own website. (The California attorney generals office collects data on hate crimes in the state but not other cases involving verbal harassment, for example, which often dont constitute crimes.). But leaders of the Bay Area Asian community say crime statistics are misleading because Asian-American residents, especially immigrants, often do not report assaults or robberies out of mistrust of the system or language barriers. 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. Jaeah Lee is a magazine journalist based in San Francisco, with a focus on criminal justice. Then the flood came. A homicide detective gave his condolences and said they were planning to charge the attack as a murder. I killed Dad.. SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) A man charged in the brutal assault of an 84-year-old San Francisco man that was captured on video last month will remain in custody following a court hearing Monday. Two days after entering the hospital, just before dawn, Vicha died in his sleep. Mr. Vichas second shot was scheduled for Feb. 12, an appointment he would not live to make. Sliman Nawabi, a deputy public defender representing Watson, disputed the perception that the attack was racially motivated. }); A San Francisco man accused of killing an 84-year-old Thai grandfather in an attack that galvanized Asian Americans and helped spur a successful recall of the city's liberal prosecutor was ordered . Monthanus sat on her bed that evening with Eric and their 11-year-old son, Titus, Googling her fathers age and the cross street where she found the stain. Body camera footage of the encounter led police to identify him. Im not a cop. gads_event = event; A nurse came in and explained that the surgeon hadnt been able to stop the bleeding. There was no longer any way to ignore the violence that was happening to people who look like us., Antoine Watson, a 19-year-old resident of neighboring Daly City, was arrested two days after the attack and charged with murder and elder abuse. A.Cecil Williams told The New York Times in an article about the 2010 protest. Members of the department's arson task force took . It also encourages those agencies to raise awareness about the impact of hate crimes and the services available to victims. 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. They said they didnt have the capacity to track racism, Jeung says. He ordered one after Vichas death, along with a few cans of pepper spray and security cameras he installed around their apartment. Watson entered a not guilty plea to charges of murder . We also identified his female associate as 20-year-old Maylasia Goo also of Daly . pg.acq.push(function() { Breed said that she had the support of both the police department and the District Attorney's office in her stance. They scrubbed the sidewalk with brushes and wondered why no one from the city had come to do the same. About an hour later, Mr. Vicha, an 84-year-old retired auditor from Thailand, was violently slammed to the ground by a man who charged into him at full speed. } Evan Sernoffsky reports. They will all be together.. pg.acq.push(function() { "You will be held accountable by both the police and the District Attorney. The number of submissions grew steadily throughout the year, reaching a total of 2,800 by the end of 2020. For his family, the death has been devastating both in California and abroad. Monthanus wore a black wool cloak over a pleated dress that flew up as the boat pulled away from the dock. pg.acq.push(function() { A photograph of Vicha Ratanapakdee that hangs in his daughters home.CreditKevin Kunishi for The New York Times. He's currently . The segment ran with Vichas photo and the headline Family of 84-Year-Old Killed in S.F. We matter, and racism is killing us. When a video emerged showing a 91-year-old shoved to the ground in Chinatown in Oakland, Calif., the actors Daniel Dae Kim and Daniel Wu posted a $25,000 reward for anyone who had more information on the suspect, tweeting, Remember Vincent Chin, who was beaten to death by two white men in Detroit in 1982. Believe Attack Was Racially Motivated., Amanda Nguyen, a prominent activist, shared Sernoffskys report. Monthanus was alone in the room with her sister on FaceTime. 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. } After several weeks, the advocate replied that the office didnt have the budget to hire a translator. Only one agreed. A young man in a gas mask and a bulletproof vest said he had flown in from New York City after seeing the video. 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. Ratanapakdee was brought to San Francisco General Hospital, but he eventually died on Saturday. Mr. Vichas cremated remains have been placed in two urns. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. If you miss Grandpa, she told him, go to his photo and say hi. Troy walked up to two framed portraits of his grandfather that now hung side by side on the wall. There is absolutely zero evidence that Mr. Ratanapakdees ethnicity and age was a motivating factor in being assaulted, Nawabi said. Monthanus squatted and scrubbed as her mother poured a jug of water over the concrete, the headlights shining behind them. 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. Video footage shows the teen running at Ratanapakdee and pushing him over, knocking him to the ground. Hi! he shouted over and over. Pa, can you hear me? she repeated. She was a Thai immigrant living in Alameda a diverse town, she said. California lawmakers have approved$1.4 million in state funds to help Asian Americans report hate incidents following the recent uptick. Boudin says Antoine Watson was . Rev. The killing of a Thai man in America has given voice to a united community under the umbrella of an Asian-American identity. After interviewing prosecutors across more than 30 states, Avlana Eisenberg, a law professor at Florida State University, found that district attorneys offices often avoid adding hate-crime charges even and perhaps especially when the crime is particularly horrific, she wrote in The Atlantic this year. 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. 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. San Francisco police arrest man who filmed attack of elderly Asian man collecting recyclables, Man punches elderly woman in head as she walks and then plays the victim in shocking random attack in Brooklyn. The neighbor didnt appear to speak English, but he pointed toward her and shouted, Right there! Monthanus looked down. They also identified a female associate he was with at the time of the assault as 20-year-old Daly City resident Maylasia Goo. By William McCurry. . "Look, I believe in second chances. As he was escorted out of the courtroom, an older woman later identified as his grandmother shouted, "I love you Antoine! In addition, she obtained police documents that claimed toshowWatson "on surveillancegoing to a BMW after the crime retrieving a cell phone & walk back to Ratanapakdee & appear to take photos of him as he was dying.". 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. },false) who was violently pushed and killed by Antoine Watson in . She shut the laptop and told Titus to leave the room. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Video footage shows the teen running at Ratanapakdee and pushing him over, knocking him to the ground. 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. That afternoon, the couple taped their first interview, with the KTVU reporter Evan Sernoffsky, near the courthouse steps. But her mind swirled with bigger questions. Among the most alarming were the stories of a 57-year-old Asian woman who was pushed off a railway platform onto the tracks, and an 83-year-old Asian man who died from a head injury after being assaulted by a group of boys. In each instance, the bystanders appeared to do nothing. The court system, which they thought would deliver swift justice, was confoundingly slow. Vicha was one of only a few people in the village who spoke English well, Mr. Surachai said. October 2021. He has pled not guilty to charges of murder and elder abuse causing death. I just want to know why he did it. I have this weird, stupid fantasy, Eric said. Monthanus and Eric voted for him. His wife suggested that he have some coffee first; he told her he wouldnt be gone for long, whispering so as not to wake the kids. Watson is accused in the deadly attack of Vicha Ratanapakdee in the city's Anza Vista neighborhood on January 28. The suspect was booked on suspicion of murder, elder abuse, and assault with a deadly weapon, KTVU reported. San Francisco's district attorney charged Antoine Watson, the 19-year-old accused of shoving Vicha to death, with murder and elder abuse. hitType: 'event', 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. Why, since her fathers death, did it feel as if there were more cases every day? The grandmother of a teen who senselessly pushed and killed a Thai grandfather has said her grandson should walk free. On her drive home, Monthanus thought about a defendant she saw earlier in the courtroom. He Came From Thailand to Care For Family. 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. Throughout 2020, multiple strangers had come at her seemingly out of nowhere. But the steps were nearly empty. She is a 2021-22 Knight-Wallace reporting fellow at the University of Michigan and an inaugural recipient of the American Mosaic Journalism Prize. In Thailand, the killing was front-page news and described as barbaric, a life cut short in a family where siblings typically live into their late 90s, relatives say. . "The rise in hate incidents against Asian Americans during the pandemic is alarming. I know thats totally crazy, he said, but I get that feeling sometimes. As she watched the parade of flowers and ashes float out to sea, she spoke to him. 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, 19, has been held in County Jail since being arrested Jan. 30 for allegedly charging into 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee two days earlier in the Anza Vista neighborhood. A.Cecil Williams told The New York Times in an article about the 2010 protest. When a sibling bullies another sibling, and then they go to school, and then they bully other kids, its like a chain reaction., Then there was Monthanus and Eric. Vicha and his first grandson, Titus Lawson, in 2009. Eric said the photo, which was taken from behind and does not show a face, made the person look hateful. District Attorney Chesa Boudin has said Goo was seated in the car and played no apparent role in the attack. "Racism has once again proven deadly" An elderly Thai man was knocked down and killed by a teenager in San Francisco. Last week, Mayor London Breed, joined by Police Chief Bill Scott and District Attorney Chesa Boudin, said violence in San Francisco would not be tolerated and that any perpetrators would "be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law," especially those who targeted children or the elderly. Other celebrities joined in. In July, however, the F.B.I. Its like being bullied. She tried to shield them from the video, but sometimes the evening news would be on and the footage would flash by before she could turn it off. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Can I see my father? she asked. One witness at the scene told officers that he saw . Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle. Your father is a victim. (Under California law, families of victims are eligible for work compensation only if a minor died or was hospitalized.). At one point, the couple agreed to stop going to rallies for a while. The 2023 salary cap has already been set . Prior to joining Fox News' digital team in 2020, Manfredi worked for Fox Business' Making Money with Charles Payne as a production assistant. Solidarity is what it should be, she says. Monthanus agreed, even as her worry turned to panic. A witness told the police they heard a voice shouting, Why you lookin at me? twice before hearing Ratanapakdee, prosecutors said. 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. Please enter valid email address to continue. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. She wasnt sure if Troy even knew what was happening. 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. I got everything back the house key, even the quarter. Eric fixated on the footage, too. Right, Mr. Vicha receiving the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Thats when I was like: This is more than some kind of accident or robbery or assault. Shes lost her child.. Monthanus wailed softly. MEAWW brings you the best content from its global team of One month after the Atlanta shootings, a white gunman killed eight people at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis. After reading about an Asian American teenager in the Los Angeles area who was hospitalized in February after being bullied about Covid, Jeung contacted colleagues at two advocacy groups in California. She could feel the weight of the pandemic starting to lift, but where there had once been anticipation, she now felt dread. Before his third heart operation, Vicha debated whether to go through with the procedure; he wasnt sure if he would make it. 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. On January 28, 2021, 84-year-old Thai man Vicha Ratanapakdee was knocked to the pavement and killed in San Francisco's Anza Vista neighborhood. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), After her graduation, when Ms. Monthanus married and decided to stay in San Francisco, Mr. Vicha and his wife came to help raise their grandchildren. He was arrested along with Maylasia Goo, 20 . It was the type of forceful body blow that might have knocked unconscious a young football player in full protective pads. A Feb. 9 report by Stop Asian American Pacific Islander Hate foundover 2,808 firsthand accounts of anti-Asian hate from 47 states and the District of Columbiabetween March 19, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2020, with 126 accounts (7.3% of total incidents)of anti-Asian hate involving Americans over 60 years old. Mr. Vicha was fatally attacked during a morning walk last month. eventAction: 'click_ads' Several people suggested that there was more to the video that went viral, which prompted Monthanus to walk around the block to knock on neighbors doors and ask if they would share their security-camera footage. Owners of gun stores reported more Asian customers than ever before. 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. She felt similarly snubbed after asking the advocate about applying for compensation for lost wages. An assailant, later identified by police as 19-year-old Antoine Watson, came barreling . Around 10 p.m., a new search result popped up. For a short while, Monthanus half believed it, too. Monthanus didnt always agree with her father, but she loved his spirit. A judge in San Francisco ruled Friday that Antoine Watson will stand trial in the brutal death of 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee. if(document.querySelector("#adunit")){ She had always looked to her father when something troubled her conscience. This unfortunate assault has to do with a break in the mental health of a teenager. When her mother saw the video, she stiffened. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Our seniors are afraid to walk their own streets, Mr. Chan said. 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. A surveillance video captured what happened next. A long, thick tube protruded from Vichas head. Six of the victims two women of Chinese descent, four women of Korean descent worked at the businesses targeted by the gunman, an unequivocal sign for many of those watching that he acted out of hatred, misogyny and racism. The weeks went on, and Monthanus and Eric sank deeper into their grief as their suspicions mounted toward homicide investigators, who never seemed able to give a straight answer; toward the district attorney, who seemed to put his interests before theirs; and toward Antoine Watson, about whom they knew little beyond the gaping hole he left in their lives. A news cameraman wrestled with his tripod. 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. }); A preliminary hearing for the man accused of fatally pushing Vicha Ratanapakdee in San Francisco last year commenced on Tuesday, reigniting calls for justice and an end to anti-Asian violence. Less than 24 hours later, a spokesman for the Cherokee County sheriff reduced the rampage to the act of a sex addict having a really bad day; then it was revealed that the same spokesman reportedly promoted T-shirts calling the coronavirus an IMPORTED VIRUS FROM CHY-NA. The rage boiled over. One of the biggest flaws of hate-crime laws, she says, is their focus on punishment. How many Vicha Ratanapakdees need to happen before you see anything at all?. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. She told her husband, Eric Lawson, who rushed home from the restaurant where he worked. They sailed toward the Golden Gate Bridge, the choppy waters jostling them as they chanted the Five Precepts. 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. When Monthanus had a gripe with the landlord or a stranger who crossed her, he would tell her to let it go, to leave it to karma. 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 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. "I can't even imagine what his family is going through right now. It's common sense, and we knew his intention. But once he does, we should work out some kind of situation where we could forgive somehow and move on with our life. There were several violent crimes in San Francisco on Thursday, the article began. I believe people are better than the worst things they have done," said Breed. The future me, the real me, says, I wish we could forgive everybody, and everybody should acknowledge this bad thing happened. And right now it feels like, maybe, his family sees me as an enemy. }) According to the San Francisco District Attorney's office, Watson had been observed and contacted by San Francisco Police officers earlier that Thursday morning for traffic infractions resulting in a minor collision. After her father died, Monthanus had given up her night job processing customs paperwork for an import-export company to help watch the kids. Im not a lawyer. We were like, Is this a hate crime? He was like, I cant talk about this, Eric says. In the past week the California Legislature approved $1.4 million in funding to track and research racist incidents against Asian-Americans. . A close friend, also searching, sent her two links that vaguely mentioned Vicha, including an article published in Chinese by KTSF, a local outlet serving a primarily Chinese American audience. Three monks carried piles of orchids and roses, a framed photo of Vicha and a forest green box holding his remains. Ratanapakdee's head hit the pavement as he fell. A photograph of Vicha Ratanapakdee that hangs in his daughters home. An 84-year-old man was killed after he was brutally attacked on a San Francisco street. He had just gone to dinner with a few relatives visiting from Beijing. His death helped awaken the nation to a rise in anti-Asian violence. Watson allegedly carried out the deadly attack on senior citizen Vicha Ratanapakdee in the citys Anza Vista neighborhood on January 28, 2021. Intravenous lines and electrode patches linked his body to a constellation of machines and bags of fluid. ", When asked outside the courtroom what she wanted to see happen, Watson's grandmother said, "To see him walk out this door like I'm walking out right now.". During the pandemic, Vicha usually left the house before 8 a.m. and made it back before his grandsons started their Zoom classes. a white gunman killed eight people at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis. After the attack, as her father lay on the ground, a couple driving by stopped to place a blanket on him. During the pandemic, she persuaded him to avoid shopping and stick to outdoor walks. A few days later, Eric asked me if I saw the news about the recent attack on Carl Chan, the head of Oaklands Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, who has been a vocal supporter of increasing foot patrols and camera surveillance in the neighborhood. }); 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. Surveillance video showed Ratanapakdee 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. Several young people carried signs with an illustration of a 75-year-old Chinese woman who, a few weeks earlier, was punched by a white man and then fought back by whacking him with a wooden board. Monthanus and Eric had been busy arranging her fathers funeral while fielding phone calls and messages from family, friends and strangers. Ratanapakdee was on his morning walk last Thursday at around 8:28 a.m. in Anza Vista, San Francisco when Watson rushed towards the victim and pushed him to the ground. Im going to take care of you. He believes that the attacks on the elderly and the Atlanta shootings led more people to file reports. document.querySelector("#adunit").addEventListener('click',function(){ Public safety is a lot bigger than the ability to arrest or prosecute someone, says Tinisch Hollins, who runs the advocacy group Californians for Safety and Justice. We dont know how to attribute this rise in reporting, he told me. Watson, the suspect identified in Ratanapakdee's murder,wasarrested and chargedwith murder and elder abuse. Knowing what happened with SARS, how Asians were going to get shunned, harassed, he says, referring to the 2003 outbreak, I was just personally and sociologically alerted to racism., Jeung set up search alerts for Asian American and discrimination. The results confirmed his fears. Monthanus wanted to speak to the judge, too. SAN FRANCISCO Weary of being cooped inside during the pandemic, . This January, Vicha was eager to regain his stamina after a recent series of heart operations, so that he could walk again for longer distances. Im not a judge. In a New York Times article, Boudin says Antoine Watson was having "some sort of temper tantrum," a term more often used to describe toddlers, ABC7 reported.
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