by Anh L. Watson entered a not guilty plea to charges of murder . I have this weird, stupid fantasy, Eric said. By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ February 2, 2021. As she replayed the footage again and again, Monthanus kept coming back to the same conclusion. The suspect was booked on suspicion of murder, elder abuse, and assault with a deadly weapon, KTVU reported. Youre going to survive, Dad, Monthanus told him. 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. She clutched a few sheets of paper in one hand. I kept my promise, Dad, she said. We are one of the worlds fastest growing San Francisco's chief prosecutor addressed the January death of Vicha Ratanapakdee at a time when many Asian Americans feel targeted based on their race. Family believes attack of 84-year-old man in San Francisco was racial motivated. 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. Captured on a neighbors security camera, the video of the attack was watched with horror around the world. The neighborhood of Anza Vista, tucked on a hilltop away from traffic, was usually quiet. 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. reporters on a platform technologically tailored to meet the needs of the modern reader. In the past week the California Legislature approved $1.4 million in funding to track and research racist incidents against Asian-Americans. A nurse came in and explained that the surgeon hadnt been able to stop the bleeding. Officers arrested Antoine Watson on Saturday after serving a warrant at a Daly City home. 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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. 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. } media-tech companies with hubs around the world. The way he greeted her with relief when she came home late from work. [1] [2] [3] The assault was captured on a CCTV camera . But what brought her out to the rallies, more than anything, was her desire for someone to answer for the loss of her father. . Court documents give the victims name as Gilbert Diaz, and Carl Chan, a community leader and president of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, said the victim was Latino. Mayor London Breed and Speaker Nancy Pelosi offered condolences. Monthanus and Eric voted for him. ", 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.". You know what she said? But once he does, we should work out some kind of situation where we could forgive somehow and move on with our life. 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. We said, Dad, we are going to go back soon! Ms. Monthanus recalled. 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. Maylasia Goo also arrested. Antoine Watson held in attack on 84-year-old victim. There were several violent crimes in San Francisco on Thursday, the article began. a white gunman killed eight people at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis. Just six days after taking office, President Biden issued amemorandumcondemning "inflammatory and xenophobic rhetoric" that has put Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) persons, families, communitiesand businesses at risk during the pandemic. In the . San Francisco police have arrested 19-year-old Antoine Watson of Dale City on suspicion of murder, along with Malaysia Goo, 20, for allegedly serving as an accessory after the attack. Watson allegedly carried out the deadly attack on senior citizen Vicha Ratanapakdee in the citys Anza Vista neighborhood on January 28, 2021. Editor's note: In the wake of numerous incidents of anti-Asian assaults and increasing concern over violent crime in San Francisco, . His killing came at a time when other disturbing images and reports were emerging from across the San Francisco Bay. She worried how the exposure affected her sons. Jaeah Lee is a magazine journalist based in San Francisco, with a focus on criminal justice. 84-year-old San Francisco resident Vicha Ratanapakdee was the target of the brazen and unprovoked daytime attack last Thursday morning. A photograph of Vicha Ratanapakdee that hangs in his daughters home. He died shortly after being rushed to a hospital. Before his third heart operation, Vicha debated whether to go through with the procedure; he wasnt sure if he would make it. I think he has to pay for what he did. The trust-building really took us 10 years, Wan says. Another was that such a pattern was not only false, but that the belief in it was a racist misperception. }); In the past year, researchers and activist groups have tallied thousands of racist incidents against Asian-Americans, a surge in hate that they link to former President Donald J. Trump repeatedly referring to the coronavirus as the Chinese virus. Mr. Vichas family described his killing as racially motivated, and it spurred a campaign to raise awareness by many prominent Asian-Americans, who used the online hashtags #JusticeForVicha and #StopAsianHate. Members of the department's arson task force took . eventAction: 'click_image_ads' Then, on March 16, a white gunman in the Atlanta area drove to several businesses and shot eight people to death. On the far side of the bridge, where the bay meets the Pacific, the engine stopped. First published on February 8, 2021 / 3:17 PM. / CBS San Francisco. He left his home because of a family dispute and got in a traffic accident in San Francisco at 2 a.m. During the pandemic, Vicha usually left the house before 8 a.m. and made it back before his grandsons started their Zoom classes. 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. They scrubbed the sidewalk with brushes and wondered why no one from the city had come to do the same. $300,000 a year is roughly what a family of four needs to earn to live a middle-class lifestyle in the Bay Area. Left, Mr. Vicha holding his young daughter next to his wife. She never got to decide. stay inside. 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. ga('create', 'UA-67136960-15', 'auto', 'ads'); One was that there was a pattern of Black perpetrators and Asian victims, that the pattern was a symptom of a tension dating back decades. When she finished, the defendant lifted his glasses and wiped his eyes. window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('impressionViewable', function(event) { In each instance, the bystanders appeared to do nothing. He had guided her through lifes big decisions, her moments of uncertainty and doubt. On her drive home, Monthanus thought about a defendant she saw earlier in the courtroom. They said they didnt have the capacity to track racism, Jeung says. 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 . Three monks carried piles of orchids and roses, a framed photo of Vicha and a forest green box holding his remains. There is absolutely zero evidence that Mr. Ratanapakdees ethnicity and age was a motivating factor in being assaulted, Nawabi said. 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. Instead, he paused for a moment and turned right, as though whatever caught his eye made him decide to change course. 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. The grandmother of a teen who senselessly pushed and killed a Thai grandfather has said her grandson should walk free. She was a Thai immigrant living in Alameda a diverse town, she said. He always told me that if something happened to him, this must be passed on to grandchildren, she said. Youre not doing it right, her mother snapped at one point, grabbing the brush. 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. Ratanapakdee was brought to San Francisco General Hospital, but he eventually died on Saturday. The alleged killer is Daly City resident Antoine Watson, who was 19 at the time of the seemingly unprovoked sidewalk attack in the Anza Vista neighborhood. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Watson is accused in the deadly attack of Vicha Ratanapakdee in the city's Anza Vista neighborhood on January 28. Can I see my father? she asked. 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. She had come every morning to wish her father a safe journey. He died of a brain hemorrhage in a San Francisco hospital two days later. 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. I think a lot of that grief and anger and scapegoating continues to be directed toward Asians.. 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. 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. 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. When she came back in, she noticed his tablet was gone. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Vicha and his first grandson, Titus Lawson, in 2009. Two days after entering the hospital, just before dawn, Vicha died in his sleep. According to the San Francisco District Attorney's office, Watson had been observed and contacted by San Francisco Police officers earlier that morning for traffic infractions resulting in a minor collision and was issued a citation. 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. Antoine didnt wake up Jan. 28, 2021, with the idea of shoving somebody down and killing them, regardless of their race or gender. 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. ), The next morning, Eric called the tip lines for several local news stations and left messages for reporters, inviting them to the Hall of Justice, where he and Monthanus were scheduled to meet with homicide detectives. A surveillance video captured what happened next. "You will be held accountable by both the police and the District Attorney. One witness at the scene told officers that he saw . Asian Americans in San Francisco are leading the campaign to recall the city's far-left District Attorney Chesa Boudin on June 7. . 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. Police say their suspect Antoine Watson, 19, attacked the senior along Anza Vista and Fortuna . Notifications can be turned off anytime from browser settings. There had been so many attacks since the one on her father. In an unprovoked attack, Antoine Watson, 19, charged at Vichar Ratanapakdee, 84, on Thursday during the senior's morning walk. After the funeral, Monthanus and Eric hired a therapist to help Titus he had not cried and seldom said anything about the episode. 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. A few steps away, she noticed a dark stain at the end of a driveway. But let's try to make it work anyway. 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. But Mr. Chan says he has tallied more than two dozen assaults against Asian-American victims in Chinatown, including two other people shoved by the assailant who knocked down Mr. Diaz. Anyone can read what you share. How could it have been prevented? A long, thick tube protruded from Vichas head. ET on March 15. She said: You are not a victim. 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. Otherwise, her mother believed, Vichas soul couldnt leave the earth and start its journey toward the afterlife. We're less than two weeks away from the start of NFL free agency, which begins at 4 p.m. The killing of Vicha was so plain as day, said Will Lex Ham, a New York-based actor, who after watching the video flew from New York to San Francisco to help lead protests and safety patrols in Asian neighborhoods. He was booked on suspicion of murder, elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon. The family of a Thai senior citizen who died after being violently knocked to the . Sliman Nawabi, a deputy public defender representing Watson, disputed the perception that the attack was racially motivated. Eric complimented his vest and said he thought about wearing his. "Racism has once again proven deadly" An elderly Thai man was knocked down and killed by a teenager in San Francisco. He told Monthanus that when the time came, he wanted to be scattered in the bay, the place that became his home. (The data, though incomplete, show that hate crimes against Asian Americans were more likely to be committed by nonwhite offenders than those against Hispanics or African Americans. He said she didnt want to go to court; she just wanted to bury it. 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. . }); Intravenous lines and electrode patches linked his body to a constellation of machines and bags of fluid. 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. Hes 19 years old to be in jail. In February, two joggers, women, yelled something about germs at her older son as he played on a dock with a friend. It also encourages those agencies to raise awareness about the impact of hate crimes and the services available to victims. Boudin, who started his term just a few months before the lockdown, in January 2020, inherited more than 5,000 criminal prosecutions. 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. eventAction: 'load' It was the type of forceful body blow that might have knocked unconscious a young football player in full protective pads. He gets talked about as though he's some little baby minor. 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. And these memories, the sense of injustice that still lingered in them, overlapped with other histories still. For his grieving family, the reckoning hasnt gone far enough. 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. But inevitably they would get in the car with a poster of Vicha in the back. 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. Or am I just sensitive? If Watson is convicted of murder, he could face 25 years to life in state prison. 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. Everyone fell silent. Mr. Vicha went on to study at Thammasat University in Bangkok, one of the countrys most prestigious institutions. Patrol officers' body camera footage of the encounter led officers to later identify Watson as the suspect in the murder of Ratanapakdee. Mr. Vichas second shot was scheduled for Feb. 12, an appointment he would not live to make.
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