assault in Western Addition that led to the death an 84-year-old man, police said. Image: San Francisco District Attorney . But one day last year, while biking near her house, an elderly man shouted at her, You dont belong here. Another time, while walking around the neighborhood with her son, they waved and smiled at a young lady who was listening to music and dancing. In several prime-time interviews, including on Nightline and CNN, Eric went on to suggest that Vichas death was not a random outlier but a result of one race targeting another. Watson can be seen running up to Ratanapakdee and violently shoving him in video from SF CBS Local near the corner of Fortuna and Anza Vista. 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. if(document.querySelector("#ads")){ I got everything back the house key, even the quarter. Eric fixated on the footage, too. Body camera footage of the encounter led officers to identify Watson and a female associate he was with at the time of the assault. Family believes attack of 84-year-old man in San Francisco was racial motivated. Watson and his associate, 20-year-old Malaysia Goo, were arrested on January 30 without incident. There will be consequences. She had come every morning to wish her father a safe journey. Before his third heart operation, Vicha debated whether to go through with the procedure; he wasnt sure if he would make it. Months before the country went into lockdown, Russell Jeung, a professor of Asian American studies at San Francisco State University, came down with a bad case of the flu. 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) 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. There may be a logic behind that. She had always looked to her father when something troubled her conscience. 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. 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. Then, on March 16, a white gunman in the Atlanta area drove to several businesses and shot eight people to death. Believe Attack Was Racially Motivated., Vichas story joined a cluster of reports about attacks on Asian elders in four cities. Today she had prepared a speech and printed a few copies to distribute to reporters. As he was escorted out of the courtroom, an older woman later identified as his grandmother shouted, "I love you Antoine! In the next life, I hope Ill get to be your daughter again. I killed Dad.. 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. San Francisco police arrested 19-year-old Antoine Watson days after the attack. By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ February 2, 2021. The grandmother of a teen who senselessly pushed and killed a Thai grandfather has said her grandson should walk free. Police said they were quickly able to identify Watson as the assault suspect. 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. 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. }); . In March, Jeung says, Stop AAPI Hate received roughly 2,800 reports, about the same number he received in all of 2020. It was heartbreaking. "Our officers identified our suspect as 19-year-old Antoine Watson of Daly City. 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. Then the flood came. District Attorney Chesa Boudin has said Goo was seated in the car and played no apparent role in the attack. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/27/us/asian-american-hate-crimes.html. Footage of the incident showed Ratanapakdee hitting his head on the pavement before sliding into a garage door. Anyone who thinks San Francisco is an easy touch, you need to think twice." . 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 . Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Their younger son, Troy, a bright and playful 8-year-old who is autistic, had become more easily agitated during the lockdown and often stomped and shouted. hitType: 'event', He left his home because of a family dispute and got in a traffic accident in San Francisco at 2 a.m. } 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 . Inside, Monthanus held her composure as her frustration grew. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), Their landlord had sent a series of noise complaints and eviction warnings. The suspect was booked on suspicion of murder, elder abuse, and assault with a deadly weapon, KTVU reported. 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. 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. . No one had been able to identify Vicha his pockets contained a quarter and a pair of keys. Monthanus gave the nurse her fathers name, his medical-record number and his six prescriptions, which included a high dose of blood thinners. Or is this my trauma? My wife and I thought, Could it be? Jeung recalled. On January 29, 2021, investigators obtained an arrest warrant for Watson for 245(a)1 PC - Assault with a Deadly Weapon and 368(b)1 PC - Elder Abuse causing . Security footage showed the assailant R After Vicha died, Eric says, he saw so many videos, video after video of attacks in the news. 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.". "Look, I believe in second chances. Sometimes Titus would walk into her bedroom to watch TV, see her turn away and ask, Mom, are you crying? Sometimes she walked into a room to see her own mother turn away, sniffling and cheering: Its OK! But, we can't solve a problem without knowing how big it is,"San Francisco assemblymember and chair of the state's budget committee,Phil Ting, said in a statement. 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. Ratanapakdee's head hit the pavement as he fell. pg.acq.push(function() { Vicha Ratanapakdee, an 84-year old immigrant from Thailand, was preparing to go on his early morning walk in the quiet Anza Vista neighborhood of San Francisco on Saturday, January 28, 2021. He has pleaded not guilty but his lawyer admits that his client had an outburst of rage.. It was then that Mr. Vicha walked up Anzavista Avenue, a street with views of skyscrapers in the citys financial district. Antoine didnt wake up Jan. 28, 2021, with the idea of shoving somebody down and killing them, regardless of their race or gender. San Francisco police arrested Antoine Watson on Saturday after serving a warrant at a home in Daly City. Her father had been assaulted and taken to a hospital, a police officer said. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Here is a photo of Vicha Ratanapakdee, who was killed in a shocking attack last week in San Francisco. Watson, the suspect identified in Ratanapakdee's murder,wasarrested and chargedwith murder and elder abuse. A former public defender, Boudin was part of a new wave of progressive prosecutors who entered office the year before with the promise of reform. He said she didnt want to go to court; she just wanted to bury it. Other celebrities joined in. Officers arrested Antoine Watson on Saturday after serving a warrant at a Daly City home. Now that Mr. Vicha Ratanapakdee has died of his injuries, prosecution for this murderous hate crime is the only path to justice and community safety. Later, as more information trickled in, Eric changed stolen vehicle to a car disabled by an earlier hit-and-run; he also replaced thug with adult male, after watching an episode of S.W.A.T. in which a Black cop explained the words racist undertones to his partner. A petite 84-year-old with soft white hair, Vicha Ratanapakdee was a lifelong Buddhist, the kind of person who embraced the world with open arms. Donations flooded into their GoFundMe page, and they blew past their goal of $10,000 within days. 3 min read. Theres been a half-million deaths. ga('ads.send', { A.Cecil Williams told The New York Times in an article about the 2010 protest. Monthanus wailed softly. . In the Bay Area, where Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders make up a quarter of the population, stories like Vichas sparked at least two opposing narratives. Why you looking at me? and then a crushing sound., Watson pleaded not guilty. Their desire to make sense of Vichas death, to understand what motivated it, placed them in the center of a conversation so much broader than their own. In the footage, Ratanapakdee, who was originally from Thailand, can be seen walking in the driveway of a house when the suspect suddenly sprinted towards him and knocked him to the ground before casually walking away in the same direction he came from. Since her fathers death, she and Eric agreed that no one would go out at night without him. 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. 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. "The rise in hate incidents against Asian Americans during the pandemic is alarming. The grandmother of a teen who senselessly pushed and killed a Thai grandfather has said her grandson should walk free. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. His brothers and sisters are there, Ms. Monthanus said. 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. Ratanapakdee was brought to San Francisco General Hospital, but he eventually died on Saturday. 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 . pg.acq.push(function() { Body camera footage of the encounter led police to identify him. Eric complimented his vest and said he thought about wearing his. What kind of person would do this? There was no longer any way to ignore the violence that was happening to people who look like us, Mr. Ham said. And once I hear that, I dont think we have a choice but to accept it., I dont know if we can, you know, let him go, he added. 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. Its the everyday little microaggressions and little nuances thats harder to tackle.. 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. 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. Ms. Monthanus says she and her family will charter a boat under the Golden Gate Bridge and scatter some into the Pacific Ocean. A strange voice picked up. On Jan. 15, he received the first shot of the Moderna vaccine. Monthanus was too emotional then. She was a Thai immigrant living in Alameda a diverse town, she said. 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. 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. But he also suspects that the numbers reflect an animus that only deepened during lockdown. Will Lex Ham, right, and Max Leung, center, distributed information on how to report a hate crime in San Franciscos Chinatown this month. Evan Sernoffsky reports. A San Francisco judge has ruled that a man accused of killing an 84-year-old Thai grandfather will stand trial. He has pled not guilty to charges of murder and elder abuse causing death. Monthanus could now see her father enter the frame as he climbed up the hill and to a corner where he would have continued straight. 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. SAN FRANCISCO Weary of being cooped inside during the pandemic, Vicha Ratanapakdee was impatient for his regular morning walk. I know its not a scientific poll or whatever. The responses confirmed a thought in his mind all the same. Only one agreed. In July, however, the F.B.I. Watson was apparently vandalizing a car when Ratanapakdee looked at him and changed directions on his walk, Connolly said in his detention motion, citing surveillance footage from the scene. The amulet, a precious family heirloom, will be passed to the next generation, Ms. Monthanus said. The segment ran with Vichas photo and the headline Family of 84-Year-Old Killed in S.F. Watson entered a not guilty plea to charges of murder . The Oakland attacks came as many in the Bay Area began changing their social media photos to bring awareness to the seemingly unprovoked killing of an 84-year-old Thai man in San Francisco last month. As she watched the parade of flowers and ashes float out to sea, she spoke to him. These conversations surfaced the memory of Black Americans killed senselessly by Asian perpetrators, too Latasha Harlins, the young teenager carrying $2 and a bottle of orange juice, shot to death by a Korean American shopkeeper in 1991; Akai Gurley, an unarmed young father shot to death in a dark stairwell by a Chinese American police officer in 2014. She heard him say severe trauma. The officer said she would have to call the hospital to find out more. Considering him being 19 or even older now, he is no longer a child and is capable enough to keep his hands to himself. Monthanus didnt hesitate. In the hours before the attack, Mr. Watson had a string of setbacks. By William McCurry. window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotRenderEnded', function(event) { In the months since her father died, she and Eric had spent so much of their time at rallies, at court or on the phone with reporters and lawyers. Let it go. Two days after entering the hospital, just before dawn, Vicha died in his sleep. She could feel the weight of the pandemic starting to lift, but where there had once been anticipation, she now felt dread. Mr. Vichas second shot was scheduled for Feb. 12, an appointment he would not live to make. Breed went on to say that she was appearing with both Chief Scott and District Attorney Boudin to say that 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. Its like being bullied. He died of a brain hemorrhage in a San Francisco hospital two days later. As two bailiffs escorted Antoine out, the young man in the back left the courtroom and returned with a baby in his arms. It also encourages those agencies to raise awareness about the impact of hate crimes and the services available to victims. Watson has reportedlypleaded not guilty to the incident but his lawyer admits that his client had an "outburst of rage. First published on February 4, 2021 / 6:00 AM. But he says there is no evidence to suggest it was motivated by racial animus. ga('ads.send', { 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. The video was taken from the same angle as the clip that everyone saw, only this footage was longer. 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. His older daughter, Monthanus, described her father as a devoted Buddhist. (Eric, who worked at two restaurants as a server and manager before the pandemic, was on unemployment.) All rights reserved. Crime data from the district attorney offices in San Francisco County and Alameda County, which includes Oakland, show that people of Asian descent were less likely last year to be victims of crimes than other ethnic groups. A photograph of Vicha Ratanapakdee that hangs in his daughters home. Vicha was one of only a few people in the village who spoke English well, Mr. Surachai said. Im going to take care of you. And these memories, the sense of injustice that still lingered in them, overlapped with other histories still. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. The fatal assault in San Francisco on a defenseless older man was the latest terrifying episode for Asian-Americans, many of whom have endured racist taunts, rants and worse during the pandemic. He had just gone to dinner with a few relatives visiting from Beijing. We're less than two weeks away from the start of NFL free agency, which begins at 4 p.m. Watson allegedly carried out the deadly attack on senior citizen Vicha Ratanapakdee in the city's Anza Vista neighborhood on January 28, 2021. News of a viral outbreak in Wuhan had started circulating in the international news media. The first one involved Vicha Ratanapakdee, an 84-year-old San Francisco man of Thai descent, who was on his routine morning walk in late January when a man in a hoodie charged in his direction and . Ratanapakdeewas walking in the city's Anza Vista neighborhood on the morning of Jan.28 when he was violently shoved to the ground in whatBoudinreferred to as "a horrific, senseless attack". "Racism has once again proven deadly" An elderly Thai man was knocked down and killed by a teenager in San Francisco. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. She wakes up crying; she goes to sleep crying, Steiner said. She could see that Vichas death meant something bigger than her own grief, that he was part of a history that preceded her and a future she could help shape. CONTACTS:. She felt similarly snubbed after asking the advocate about applying for compensation for lost wages. . There was barely a moment to grieve. Now all that remained was the memory of him, the sound of his voice in her head. We are one of the worlds fastest growing another video that rocketed around the internet. She told me, Go wash the blood right away, Monthanus says. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Its still there. During the pandemic, she persuaded him to avoid shopping and stick to outdoor walks. By then, Boudin had told reporters that there was no evidence from the police suggesting that Vichas death was motivated by racial animus. At one point, the couple agreed to stop going to rallies for a while. Rev. Breed spoke of the shock she felt seeing the brutal assault of Ratanapakdee on video and offered her sympathies to the family. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/17/magazine/vicha-ratanapakdee.html. From the front row, Monthanus fixed her gaze on him as he walked slowly to a seat near the gallery. Who is Antoine Watson? An anti-hate rally outside the San Francisco civic center this month. 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 . During the pandemic, Vicha usually left the house before 8 a.m. and made it back before his grandsons started their Zoom classes. Mayor London Breed and Speaker Nancy Pelosi offered condolences. February 8, 2021 / 3:17 PM 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. She said: You are not a victim. Poypiti Amatatham contributed reporting from Bangkok. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle. },false) Police officers issued him a citation. We were like, Is this a hate crime? He was like, I cant talk about this, Eric says. Sie knnen Ihre Einstellungen jederzeit ndern, indem Sie auf unseren Websites und Apps auf den Link Datenschutz-Dashboard klicken. Where did the assault happen? Watson is accused in the deadly attack of Vicha Ratanapakdee in the city's Anza Vista neighborhood on January 28. Monthanus Ratanapakdee praying for her father, Vicha, at the Nagara Dhamma Temple in San Francisco on Monday. Legal Statement. Kevin Kunishi is an American photographer living in Oakland, Calif., who is known for creating long-form projects that explore aftermath, trauma and identity. When she came back in, she noticed his tablet was gone. 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. eventAction: 'click_ads' The hearing was brief and procedural; a trial date has yet to be set. San Francisco police say their suspect Antoine Watson, 19, attacked the senior along Anza Vista and Fortuna Avenues Thursday morning. The San Francisco District Attorneys office stated on Monday, February 8, that their detention plan to hold 19-year-old Antoine Watson without bail was granted by the court. Asian Americans in San Francisco are leading the campaign to recall the city's far-left District Attorney Chesa Boudin on June 7. . She watched him for several more hours, his hand in hers. Vicha and his first grandson, Titus Lawson, in 2009. I was like, There is something going on here. At the first few rallies they attended, Eric casually surveyed attendees, asking whether they had ever been spit on or pushed and what the race of the perpetrator was. A lawyer for Antoine Watson, the defendant, argued that the case should be charged as involuntary manslaughter because he had no intent to kill.

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