Why did this happen? Monthanus gave the nurse her fathers name, his medical-record number and his six prescriptions, which included a high dose of blood thinners. Instead, he paused for a moment and turned right, as though whatever caught his eye made him decide to change course. His comments tugged at a bigger, messier debate about race that had been building around the attacks. Officers arrested Antoine Watson, 19, and his female companion . 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. 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. People use the "young teenager" label on him as an excuse to obviously protect him and his behavior. }); News of a viral outbreak in Wuhan had started circulating in the international news media. Monthanus and Eric had been busy arranging her fathers funeral while fielding phone calls and messages from family, friends and strangers. For weeks, Monthanus Ratanapakdee urged her parents to please. LAPD INVESTIGATES KOREATOWN ASSAULT ON AIR FORCE VETERAN DENNY KIM AS POSSIBLE HATE CRIME, According to theTimes, Boudin saidthatRatanapakdee'sdeath was heinous, but that there is no evidence to suggest the attackwas motivated by racial animus. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. The hearing was brief and procedural; a trial date has yet to be set. For Sarah Wan, a community organizer who has been helping victims of violence in San Francisco, the debate brought back memories from 2010, when hundreds gathered outside City Hall to protest a series of similar reports. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. It appears that the defendant was in some sort of a temper tantrum, Mr. Boudin said. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. That January, an old man yelled at her in Golden Gate Park something about a virus and going back to her country while she watched her sons, then 10 and 7, run in a playground. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Due to the pandemic, the court had reopened at limited capacity to an enormous backlog. eventAction: 'load' Why you looking at me? and then a crushing sound., Watson pleaded not guilty. Family believes attack of 84-year-old man in San Francisco was racial motivated. She said: You are not a victim. When her mother saw the video, she stiffened. Send him story tips at lucas.manfredi@fox.com. 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. }); For a short while, Monthanus half believed it, too. The suspect was booked on suspicion of murder, elder abuse, and assault with a deadly weapon, KTVU reported. 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) Chan shared a photo of the person he said attacked him, who appeared to be Black, with reporters. Mr. Nawabi described Mr. Watson as someone who had struggled with anger. He disliked the chilly and wet San Francisco winter and missed his favorite southern Thai dishes and his extended family and friends. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), Watson and his associate, 20-year-old Malaysia Goo, were arrested on January 30 without incident. Let's dispel the myth right now that there are no consequences for committing crimes in San Francisco," Breed said. Video footage shows the teen running at Ratanapakdee and pushing him over, knocking him to the ground. 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. The court system, which they thought would deliver swift justice, was confoundingly slow. But inevitably they would get in the car with a poster of Vicha in the back. Two days after entering the hospital, just before dawn, Vicha died in his sleep. Now they wanted action. His older daughter, Monthanus, described her father as a devoted Buddhist. She remains puzzled why on the morning of the attack he left without his Buddhist amulet, a talisman of protection that he always wore around his neck. The incident was caught on camera, galvanizing the national Stop Asian Hate movement. She shut the laptop and told Titus to leave the room. 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. 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. Since her fathers death, she and Eric agreed that no one would go out at night without him. An anti-hate rally outside the San Francisco civic center this month. Monthanus offered me a pastry and asked if I had seen the latest news, about the 64-year-old Asian woman in Riverside, Calif., who was stabbed in the stomach while walking her dogs and later died of her injuries. It was heartbreaking. Love you, dude. The young man repeated himself. What is incontrovertible, say leaders of the Asian-American community nationwide, is that the pandemic created a climate of fear and a feeling of insecurity from New York to California. 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 surveillance video captured what happened next. For his grieving family, the reckoning hasnt gone far enough. Mr. Watsons lawyer, Sliman Nawabi, a public defender, said his client would not have been able to identify Mr. Vichas ethnicity through his face mask, cap and winter clothing. My wife and I thought, Could it be? Jeung recalled. People are grieving. On Twitter and elsewhere, Asian Americans lit up their feeds with an outpouring of grief and rage. 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. In the absence of any sense of resolution, the couple began searching for clues on their own. That Antoine was still young. 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. He was booked on suspicion of murder, elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon. reporters on a platform technologically tailored to meet the needs of the modern reader. You know what she said? It was the first court appearance of 19-year-old Daly City resident Antoine Watson since he was arrested for the assault this past weekend. . Believe Attack Was Racially Motivated., Amanda Nguyen, a prominent activist, shared Sernoffskys report. We said, Dad, we are going to go back soon! Ms. Monthanus recalled. He died shortly after arrival in the hospital. The Thai grandfather had just survived his heart surgery 9 months before, and his doctor told him to walk daily for his exercise. } 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. They sailed toward the Golden Gate Bridge, the choppy waters jostling them as they chanted the Five Precepts. In the next life, I hope Ill get to be your daughter again. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), Body camera footage of the encounter led officers to identify Watson and a female associate he was with at the time of the assault. There is absolutely zero evidence that Mr. Ratanapakdees ethnicity and age was a motivating factor in being assaulted, Nawabi said. You have to live longer so you can watch Titus graduate from college!. I kept my promise, Dad, she said. Im going to take care of you. As Vicha recovered from each operation, Monthanus had slept on the floor next to his bed, comforting him through the pain. hitType: 'event', She thought about Antoine, knowing there were people in his life who loved him. 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. I want to know what happened. But maybe were going to be hurt forever anyway.. It was the type of forceful body blow that might have knocked unconscious a young football player in full protective pads. The San Francisco District Attorney has filed murder charges and elder abuse causing death charges against the 19-year-old suspect in the case, Antoine Watson, calling the crime a "brutal . Monthanus wanted to speak to the judge, too. 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. On the morning of Jan. 28, when Monthanus and the children were still asleep, he prepared to head out. 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. 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. There will be consequences. 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 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. Antoine Watson arrested assault w/deadly weapon & elder abuse. Another person claiming to be Vichas son had set up a fund-raiser in his name. In November, another old man spat in her direction as her sons rode their scooters by the bay. Why was no one intervening? "I can't even imagine what his family is going through right now. Mayor London Breed and Speaker Nancy Pelosi offered condolences. But the legal tampering window opens two days before that on March 13, where teams will be able to negotiate with free agents before the official start of the 2023 season. 3 min read. 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. 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. But the overwhelming majority of hate-crime perpetrators are white.). Here is a photo of Vicha Ratanapakdee, who was killed in a shocking attack last week in San Francisco. Why, since her fathers death, did it feel as if there were more cases every day? Watson, the court documents state, had been cited for reckless driving, speeding and failure to stop at a stop sign in the hours before the attack. Asian Americans in San Francisco are leading the campaign to recall the city's far-left District Attorney Chesa Boudin on June 7. . 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. When Monthanus talked about these incidents, how the outside world didnt feel safe anymore, her father would ask, Is it really that bad? The mainstream media does not spotlight our stories enough, Nguyen said into the camera, urging her vast following to share the story and tag CNN and MSNBC. 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. "Look, I believe in second chances. 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 . She told her husband, Eric Lawson, who rushed home from the restaurant where he worked. Amanda Nguyen, a prominent activist, shared Sernoffskys report in a viral Instagram video, along with two others, one about a 64-year-old Vietnamese woman who was robbed in San Jose and another about a 61-year-old Filipino man whose face was slashed with a box cutter on the New York subway. ga('ads.send', { Tuesday morning, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Police Chief Bill Scott and District Attorney Chesa Boudin denounced the recent rise in violent crimes in the city, particularly the fatal assaults on Ratanapakdee and 76-year-old private investigator Jack Palladino. 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. Monthanus wailed softly. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle. The law was celebrated for recognizing the need to better track violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. What made her father bleed out like that? If he had been murdered, Monthanus asked Eric, why wasnt it on the news? Two hours later, Antoine finally entered the room. On her drive home, Monthanus thought about a defendant she saw earlier in the courtroom. Shes lost her child.. }); Only one agreed. Whenever she left the house, she tested a can of pepper spray in the bathroom, the fumes burning her eyes, before tucking it in her pocket. Her father had been assaulted and taken to a hospital, a police officer said. An assailant, later identified by police as 19-year-old Antoine Watson, came barreling . There was barely a moment to grieve. This is a hate crime.. 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. But what brought her out to the rallies, more than anything, was her desire for someone to answer for the loss of her father. Members of the department's arson task force took . Even without much publicity, we have already received a strong response from the community, who want their voices heard, Jeung wrote in the groups first report. Ratanapakdee was brought to San Francisco General Hospital, but he eventually died on Saturday. 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. The group filed out to the edge of the deck. Earlier that week, two more videos emerged from New York City of a man in Times Square stomping on a woman on her way to church; of a man punching and choking another man on the J train. Ratanapakdee died after sustaining severe injuries. eventAction: 'click_adunit' Please enter valid email address to continue. And these memories, the sense of injustice that still lingered in them, overlapped with other histories still. For the past two years, Monthanus had started taking care of her parents more intensely, after her mother was diagnosed with dementia and her father with three clogged arteries. "Racism has once again proven deadly" An elderly Thai man was knocked down and killed by a teenager in San Francisco. We are one of the worlds fastest growing ga('ads.send', { She knew what he would say if he were here now. Watson is accused in the deadly attack of Vicha Ratanapakdee in the city's Anza Vista neighborhood on January 28. 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. In each case, the suspects were Black. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/17/magazine/vicha-ratanapakdee.html. document.querySelector("#adunit").addEventListener('click',function(){ 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. }); SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: A teenager charged in the brutal assault of an 84-year-old San Francisco man that was captured on video in January 2021, will remain in custody following a court hearing on Monday, February 15. After her sons Zoom classes on Jan. 28, Monthanus began to worry about where her father was. She tried calling it. 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. 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. 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. 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. Today she had prepared a speech and printed a few copies to distribute to reporters. Initial investigation by SIT/General Crimes Unit identified the male suspect as 19-year-old Antoine Watson of Daly City and the female associate as 20-year-old Maylasia Goo of Daly City. There was no longer any way to ignore the violence that was happening to people who look like us, Mr. Ham said. Before sitting down, he glanced toward the back of the room and smiled when he recognized a young man. On the corner where Vicha paused in his steps, theres a view of the bay and the skyscrapers downtown. if(document.querySelector("#ads")){ She heard him say severe trauma. The officer said she would have to call the hospital to find out more. He has pleaded not guilty but his lawyer admits that his client had an outburst of rage.. No one helped him because they thought he had Covid, Jeung says. In an unprovoked attack, Antoine Watson, 19, charged at Vichar Ratanapakdee, 84, on Thursday during the senior's morning walk. Watson, the court documents state, had been cited for "reckless driving, speeding and failure to stop at a stop sign" in the hours before the attack. 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! 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. A local ABC News affiliate had posted footage from a surveillance camera. Since his retirement in 1996 from Kasikornbank, one of Thailands largest financial institutions, Mr. Vicha had traveled between San Francisco, where his eldest daughter lives, and Thailand, where his youngest does. media-tech companies with hubs around the world. A victims advocate assigned by the district attorneys office helped the couple apply for state reimbursement for the cremation, the funeral and other expenses. A San Francisco judge has ruled that a man accused of killing an 84-year-old Thai grandfather will stand trial. I know thats totally crazy, he said, but I get that feeling sometimes. I told him to walk that way. Boudin says Antoine Watson was . hitType: 'event', She had always looked to her father when something troubled her conscience. There were several violent crimes in San Francisco on Thursday, the article began. He had guided her through lifes big decisions, her moments of uncertainty and doubt. }) As he was escorted out of the courtroom, an older woman later identified as his grandmother shouted, "I love you Antoine! The suspect, Antoine Watson, was arrested and charged with murder and is pending trial. Friends scattered the flower petals. Inside, Monthanus held her composure as her frustration grew. She added thatRatanapakdee's family was "horrified" when she relayed the information. One of the biggest flaws of hate-crime laws, she says, is their focus on punishment. Evan Sernoffsky reports. A few steps away, she noticed a dark stain at the end of a driveway. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Considering him being 19 or even older now, he is no longer a child and is capable enough to keep his hands to himself. In an unprovoked attack, Antoine Watson, 19, charged at Vichar Ratanapakdee, 84, on Thursday during the senior's morning walk. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(),