Shortly after Vicha was pronounced dead, Monthanuss phone rang. 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. Another person claiming to be Vichas son had set up a fund-raiser in his name. [1] [2] [3] The assault was captured on a CCTV camera . At one point, one group may emerge because theyve got greater population, and another group feels pushed out feels like they dont have a voice anymore, the Rev. 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. The video was taken from the same angle as the clip that everyone saw, only this footage was longer. 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. She had learned small details about the suspect from her initial conversations with the police: male, 19 years old, African American. Chan shared a photo of the person he said attacked him, who appeared to be Black, with reporters. In March, a man waving a Laotian flag told a small crowd at a protest in San Mateo, Calif., that Vicha reminded him of his grandparents, who collected cans to get by, which was why he decided to go on the front lines and patrol Chinatown in Oakland. Why, since her fathers death, did it feel as if there were more cases every day? This comes after the news made national headlines amid growing concerns about rising anti-Asian sentiment during the pandemic and attacks against Asian American elders. Im fine, even if hes in a wheelchair or doesnt wake up, she said. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), pg.acq.push(function() { Can I see my father? she asked. 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. 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. In San Francisco, where 36 percent of the population is of Asian descent, 16 percent of crime victims of known ethnicity were Asian, a similar situation to Alameda County. 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. We said, Dad, we are going to go back soon! Ms. Monthanus recalled. But she and Eric feared that the trauma might manifest years, or decades, later. 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 amulet, a precious family heirloom, will be passed to the next generation, Ms. Monthanus said. I want to know why, she said. Before sitting down, he glanced toward the back of the room and smiled when he recognized a young man. Boudin says Antoine Watson was . 2021, 19-year-old Antoine Watson, was just "having some sort of temper tantrum" when he killed him. Its like continuing to use a screwdriver when you need to use a saw.. Monthanus wailed softly. Poypiti Amatatham contributed reporting from Bangkok. After Vicha died, Eric says, he saw so many videos, video after video of attacks in the news. Jaeah Lee is a magazine journalist based in San Francisco, with a focus on criminal justice. by Anh L. . In each case, the suspects were Black. Monthanus and Eric voted for him. In an unprovoked attack, Antoine Watson, 19, charged at Vichar Ratanapakdee, 84, on Thursday during the senior's morning walk. It was the type of forceful body blow that might have knocked unconscious a young football player in full protective pads. They sailed toward the Golden Gate Bridge, the choppy waters jostling them as they chanted the Five Precepts. This unfortunate assault has to do with a break in the mental health of a teenager. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. On Jan. 15, he received the first shot of the Moderna vaccine. She lowered her head and opened her palms to touch the rug three times. In late January 2020, a man died outside a restaurant in Sydney after collapsing from a heart attack. Editor's note: In the wake of numerous incidents of anti-Asian assaults and increasing concern over violent crime in San Francisco, . What made her father bleed out like that? 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. 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. 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. He Came From Thailand to Care For Family. another video that rocketed around the internet. We dont know how to attribute this rise in reporting, he told me. They scrubbed the sidewalk with brushes and wondered why no one from the city had come to do the same. pg.acq.push(function() { Maylasia Goo also arrested. One of the biggest flaws of hate-crime laws, she says, is their focus on punishment. But Jeung grew wary when a doctor asked him if he had recently been to China, and again when he learned that his relatives had been marooned at a hotel near the airport after being told they couldnt board their flight back home. Wans group, Community Youth Center, responded by opening a new office in Bayview-Hunters Point, where the attacks occurred. A web camera streamed the ceremony for friends and family abroad. 3 min read. Police say their suspect Antoine Watson, 19, attacked the senior along Anza Vista and Fortuna . }); Then one day, after knocking on a neighbors door to ask about their surveillance footage, she returned to her car to find Troy crying in the back seat. Mr. Vicha went on to study at Thammasat University in Bangkok, one of the countrys most prestigious institutions. (Eric, who worked at two restaurants as a server and manager before the pandemic, was on unemployment.) At a vigil in Madison Park in Oakland the week after the Atlanta shootings, a mother stood with her young son, holding a sign with Vichas face on it. } ga('ads.send', { He gets talked about as though he's some little baby minor. reporters on a platform technologically tailored to meet the needs of the modern reader. A long, thick tube protruded from Vichas head. He has pled not guilty to charges of murder and elder abuse causing death. But he says there is no evidence to suggest it was motivated by racial animus. . 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. Monthanus and her parents subscribed to a Buddhist belief that, after death, the soul takes 100 days to reach the afterlife. Video footage played during witness testimony this week shows Antoine Watson . 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. 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. Sliman Nawabi, a deputy public defender representing Watson, disputed the perception that the attack was racially motivated. 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. Or am I just sensitive? Mr. Vichas second shot was scheduled for Feb. 12, an appointment he would not live to make. First published on February 8, 2021 / 3:17 PM. a white gunman killed eight people at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis. Mom, you know what? Wheres Grandpa? Troy asked her. Then the flood came. In another week, her sons would go back to school, and Monthanus, a food-safety inspector for the city school district, would be back at work. She never got to decide. If Watson is convicted of murder, he could face 25 years to life in state prison. He told Monthanus that when the time came, he wanted to be scattered in the bay, the place that became his home. 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. It's not clear Watson's motivation. There was barely a moment to grieve. A homicide detective gave his condolences and said they were planning to charge the attack as a murder. I want to know the truth. Shes lost her child.. 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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. Police . But what brought her out to the rallies, more than anything, was her desire for someone to answer for the loss of her father. Its still there. You have to live longer so you can watch Titus graduate from college!. I wonder if its my inner racism coming out. Believe Attack Was Racially Motivated., Vichas story joined a cluster of reports about attacks on Asian elders in four cities. For his grieving family, the reckoning hasnt gone far enough. Amy Ratanapakdee thanked San Francisco police for quickly finding and arresting 19-year-old Antoine Watson and 20-year-old Malaysia Goo for her father's attack and subsequent death. Only one agreed. In March, just before the country went into lockdown, a woman swung at Monthanus outside a hospital; she ducked the punch before running across the street. Pa, can you hear me? she repeated. One hundred days after her fathers death, Monthanus boarded a boat with Eric, their sons and a few friends. Then, in a jacket, jeans and a white baseball cap, he slipped out of the apartment, down two flights of stairs and into the foggy morning. More than 500 days after the incident, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard Darwin ruled that the evidence presented by the District Attorney's Office is enough for a murder trial. Prior to joining Fox News' digital team in 2020, Manfredi worked for Fox Business' Making Money with Charles Payne as a production assistant. 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. 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. I think he has to pay for what he did. No one helped him because they thought he had Covid, Jeung says. The nurse who picked up, however, only had more questions. Monthanus was alone in the room with her sister on FaceTime. A photograph of Vicha Ratanapakdee that hangs in his daughters home. $300,000 a year is roughly what a family of four needs to earn to live a middle-class lifestyle in the Bay Area. 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. A few hours after speaking with the nurse, a doctor called to ask permission to insert a catheter into a vein in his neck and drill a small hole into his skull, to release pressure from bleeding. Why you looking at me? and then a crushing sound., Watson pleaded not guilty. Then Came a Brutal Attack. Video footage shows the teen running at Ratanapakdee and pushing him over, knocking him to the ground. An uneasiness had hung over her ever since a mob descended on the Capitol early that month, though really, people had been acting crazy for a year. 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. Watson entered a not guilty plea to charges of murder . Breed said that she had the support of both the police department and the District Attorney's office in her stance. 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. Wenn Sie Ihre Auswahl anpassen mchten, klicken Sie auf Datenschutzeinstellungen verwalten. . . The Thai grandfather had just survived his heart surgery 9 months before, and his doctor told him to walk daily for his exercise. Four of the victims were Sikh, prompting calls to examine whether the gunman was motivated by bias. . Watson was arrested along with a female associate he was with at the time of the assault. 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. A test soon showed that they had H1N1, a common strain of influenza, and their symptoms subsided within a week. Otherwise youre going to have that forever. Kevin Kunishi is an American photographer living in Oakland, Calif., who is known for creating long-form projects that explore aftermath, trauma and identity. 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. A few steps away, she noticed a dark stain at the end of a driveway. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. 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 is a 2021-22 Knight-Wallace reporting fellow at the University of Michigan and an inaugural recipient of the American Mosaic Journalism Prize. }); Being found guilty of a hate crime would not extend such a sentence significantly, but the designation has always symbolized more to victims and their families: the difference between calling out prejudice and denying it. 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. Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Vicha and Jintana Ratanapakdee on their wedding day in 1970. a mob descended on the Capitol early that month, Family of 84-Year-Old Killed in S.F. This arrest data includes all information on current and previous arrests for Antoine Watson Why was no one intervening? She watched him for several more hours, his hand in hers. 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 . Inside, Monthanus held her composure as her frustration grew. . This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For Mr. Vicha, who stood 5 feet 6 inches and weighed 113 pounds, the attack was fatal. She tried calling it. On Twitter and elsewhere, Asian Americans lit up their feeds with an outpouring of grief and rage. A lawyer for Antoine Watson, the defendant, argued that the case should be charged as involuntary manslaughter because he had no intent to kill. Please enter valid email address to continue. 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. This image from CCTV footage shows the moment Vicha Ratanapakdee was fatally attacked in Anza Vista, San Francisco. But maybe were going to be hurt forever anyway.. ", 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.". That same month, at a protest for Angelo Quinto a Filipino American Navy veteran killed by police officers in Antioch, Calif., in December 2020 a young woman from Hawaii broke into tears while remembering the story of her Filipino-Japanese family, migrants who worked the pineapple and sugar-cane plantations, and the night the cops detained her father, who struggled with addiction, during a mental-health crisis. }) Footage of the incident showed Ratanapakdee hitting his head on the pavement before sliding into a garage door. After her father died, Monthanus had given up her night job processing customs paperwork for an import-export company to help watch the kids. 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. Mr. Vicha was fatally attacked during a morning walk last month. He was booked on suspicion of murder, elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon. She stepped out to check the front and the back of their building. After the funeral, Monthanus and Eric hired a therapist to help Titus he had not cried and seldom said anything about the episode. Around midnight, after Eric and the boys went to bed, the two women drove to the corner with a bucket, gloves and a dish brush. The submissions came from 31 states and the District of Columbia, with nearly half the reports originating in California and New York. 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. The San Francisco District Attorney's office stated on Monday, February 8, that their detention plan to hold 19-year-old Antoine Watson without bail was granted by the court. I killed Dad.. At the first rally, a month earlier in March, several hundred people gathered here in support of her family. Captured on a neighbors security camera, the video of the attack was watched with horror around the world. Monthanus wore a black wool cloak over a pleated dress that flew up as the boat pulled away from the dock. Now they wanted action. Other celebrities joined in. 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. New images have continued to surface on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis. Her hope was for all people to work together, and not blame each other. After her sons Zoom classes on Jan. 28, Monthanus began to worry about where her father was. hitType: 'event', eventAction: 'click_adunit' Youre going to survive, Dad, Monthanus told him. Weitere Informationen ber die Verwendung Ihrer personenbezogenen Daten finden Sie in unserer Datenschutzerklrung und unserer Cookie-Richtlinie. At one point, a neurologist hinted that if it were his father, he would most likely take him off life support. The killing of a Thai man in America has given voice to a united community under the umbrella of an Asian-American identity. 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. February 4, 2021 / 6:00 AM eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), 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. 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. 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. He was cited by the San Francisco police for running a stop sign and reckless driving and then slept that night in his car. . It was then that Mr. Vicha walked up Anzavista Avenue, a street with views of skyscrapers in the citys financial district. 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. ga('ads.send', { A representative for the San Francisco Police Department told FOX News that the agency is unable to confirm that the documents obtained by Lim are police documents. "But when you cross that line, when you commit murder, when you take someone's life like that, we as a city and as a society have to hold you accountable for your actions. March 3, 2023 12:27 pm ET. ALSO READ: San Francisco Mayor, Police Chief, DA Condemn Fatal Assaults On Seniors; Vow To Address Violence. 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. Theres been a half-million deaths. 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. In November, another old man spat in her direction as her sons rode their scooters by the bay. The footage is grainy and brief: A tall figure suddenly darts across a street and slams into a much smaller one; the smaller figure crumples onto the pavement and doesnt get back up; the white baseball cap flutters to the ground, like a leaf falling from a tree. The attack came with such a speed that Ratanapakdee was thrown backward and he landed on the pavement. 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. 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. window.googletag.cmd.push(function() { It looked like blood, but she wasnt sure. When I see photos of these Asian elders who have been attacked, the actor Simu Liu wrote in Variety, I see the embodiment of my own parents journey; their dreams and their struggles, their sorrow and their unwavering optimism. At one point, the couple agreed to stop going to rallies for a while. We also identified his female associate as 20-year-old Maylasia Goo also of Daly . But let's try to make it work anyway. You know what she said? She told her husband, Eric Lawson, who rushed home from the restaurant where he worked. Monthanus gave the nurse her fathers name, his medical-record number and his six prescriptions, which included a high dose of blood thinners. She had even persuaded him to leave his wallet at home, at least for another few weeks, when he was scheduled for his second shot of the coronavirus vaccine. Mr. Nawabi described Mr. Watson as someone who had struggled with anger. 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. 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.