A test soon showed that they had H1N1, a common strain of influenza, and their symptoms subsided within a week. Antoine Watson appears in court during a previous hearing. In July, however, the F.B.I. . She watched him for several more hours, his hand in hers. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/27/us/asian-american-hate-crimes.html. 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. Why did this happen? 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. If he had been murdered, Monthanus asked Eric, why wasnt it on the news? https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/17/magazine/vicha-ratanapakdee.html. 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. Ms. Monthanus says she and her family will charter a boat under the Golden Gate Bridge and scatter some into the Pacific Ocean. His comments tugged at a bigger, messier debate about race that had been building around the attacks. She said: You are not a victim. A witness told the police they heard a voice shouting, Why you lookin at me? twice before hearing Ratanapakdee, prosecutors said. Former President Donald Trump repeatedly described the coronavirus or COVID-19 as the "Chinese virus," a reference to its outbreak from Wuhan, China. During the pandemic, she persuaded him to avoid shopping and stick to outdoor walks. Her hope was for all people to work together, and not blame each other. By then, Boudin had told reporters that there was no evidence from the police suggesting that Vichas death was motivated by racial animus. The spokespersonnotedthat, if there were such documents, police could and would not be able to release them due to the incident being under an active homicide investigation. But we dont want to give up, because unless everybodys safe in that community, nobody is., Lyslynn Lacoste, who runs a city program called BMAGIC and works with Wans group, told me that undoing misperceptions between communities had no quick fix. There were debates among Black residents about what contributed to the shortage of affordable housing, Lacoste says, but tension also took subtler, more pervasive forms the kind she could feel most recently at a neighborhood beauty-supply store when an Asian clerk followed her as she shopped. On Jan. 15, he received the first shot of the Moderna vaccine. A monk leaned over and gently shook Vichas ashes into the lapping waves. He always told me that if something happened to him, this must be passed on to grandchildren, she said. As the Lunar New Year approached in February, hundreds of people went out to protest the attacks. As two bailiffs escorted Antoine out, the young man in the back left the courtroom and returned with a baby in his arms. A.Cecil Williams told The New York Times in an article about the 2010 protest. We were like, Is this a hate crime? He was like, I cant talk about this, Eric says. Image: San Francisco District Attorney . 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. A homicide detective gave his condolences and said they were planning to charge the attack as a murder. Video footage played during witness testimony this week shows Antoine Watson . pg.acq.push(function() { 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. 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. 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. This image from CCTV footage shows the moment Vicha Ratanapakdee was fatally attacked in Anza Vista, San Francisco. }); }) 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". For weeks, Monthanus Ratanapakdee urged her parents to please. 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. She lowered her head and opened her palms to touch the rug three times. Friends scattered the flower petals. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. 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. Someone had been falsely claiming to reporters that he was Vichas son and spoke on behalf of the family about what would happen to his remains. His death helped awaken the nation to a rise in anti-Asian violence. He died shortly after being rushed to a hospital. San Francisco police say their suspect Antoine Watson, 19, attacked the senior along Anza Vista and Fortuna Avenues Thursday morning. I want to know why, she said. She never got to decide. pg.acq.push(function() { 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. ga('ads.send', { 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. News of a viral outbreak in Wuhan had started circulating in the international news media. 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. document.querySelector("#google_image_div").addEventListener('click',function(){ Vicha and his first grandson, Titus Lawson, in 2009. Believe Attack Was Racially Motivated., Amanda Nguyen, a prominent activist, shared Sernoffskys report. another video that rocketed around the internet. Love you, dude. The young man repeated himself. She could feel the weight of the pandemic starting to lift, but where there had once been anticipation, she now felt dread. This is a hate crime.. media-tech companies with hubs around the world. An 84-year old man is dead after a horrific daytime attack in San Francisco's Anza Vista neighborhood. She shut the laptop and told Titus to leave the room. ET on March 15. No one helped him because they thought he had Covid, Jeung says. The grandmother of a teen who senselessly pushed and killed a Thai grandfather has said her grandson should walk free. 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 the . Or am I just sensitive? He told me that Watson lost his job and support structure during the pandemic; in addition to attending college classes and working at FedEx, he had previously gone to therapy and taken medication. Monthanus wore a black wool cloak over a pleated dress that flew up as the boat pulled away from the dock. After the funeral, Monthanus and Eric hired a therapist to help Titus he had not cried and seldom said anything about the episode. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) The two men arrested in connection with an attempted robbery that lead to the death of famed San Francisco private investigator Jack Palladino are expected to face murder charges, prosecutors said Tuesday. I want him to be close to me, she said. He disliked the chilly and wet San Francisco winter and missed his favorite southern Thai dishes and his extended family and friends. if(document.querySelector("#ads")){ I want to know what happened. 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. (His mother is Mexican, and he identifies as mixed race; strangers often assume he is white. You have to live longer so you can watch Titus graduate from college!. In the hours before the attack, Mr. Watson had a string of setbacks. I told him to walk that way. Otherwise youre going to have that forever. Mr. Vicha was fatally attacked during a morning walk last month. After her sons Zoom classes on Jan. 28, Monthanus began to worry about where her father was. The incident was caught on camera, galvanizing the national Stop Asian Hate movement. Monthanus didnt always agree with her father, but she loved his spirit. 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. 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. Please enter valid email address to continue. A victims advocate assigned by the district attorneys office helped the couple apply for state reimbursement for the cremation, the funeral and other expenses. 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. 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 . SAN FRANCISCO -- A suspect has been taken into custody following a deadly explosion and fire Thursday at a home in San Francisco's Sunset District that police said was being used as a clandestine drug lab.San Francisco police identified the suspect as 53-year-old Darron Price of San Francisco. Verbal harassment made up 70.9% of incidents while shunning or avoidance comprised 21.4% of the incidents. At one point, the couple agreed to stop going to rallies for a while. Antoine grew up in San Francisco and spent part of his childhood with his siblings, parents and grandparents in the Anza Vista area, where Vicha later lived. The submissions came from 31 states and the District of Columbia, with nearly half the reports originating in California and New York. 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. Watson was arrested along with a female associate he was with at the time of the assault. During the pandemic, Vicha usually left the house before 8 a.m. and made it back before his grandsons started their Zoom classes. He was the one who encouraged her to go to the United States, the reason she started her life here. MonthanusRatanapakdee with her husband, Eric Lawson. We also identified his female associate as 20-year-old Maylasia Goo also of Daly . Watson allegedly carried out the deadly attack on senior citizen Vicha Ratanapakdee in the city's Anza Vista neighborhood on January 28, 2021. 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. An anti-hate rally outside the San Francisco civic center this month. I wonder if its my inner racism coming out. This arrest data includes all information on current and previous arrests for Antoine Watson 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. Antoine Watson arrested assault w/deadly weapon & elder abuse. 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 recent years, the Asian percentage of the Bayviews population has become five times as large as it was in 1980, while the Black share has shrunk by more than half. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Through her organization, Hollins, who lost two brothers to homicide in the last decade, assists victims of crime and lobbies to increase support services provided by the state. It also encourages those agencies to raise awareness about the impact of hate crimes and the services available to victims. Surveillance video from a camera across the street captured the moment of impact. Any other narrative is false, misleading, and divisive. Nawabi added that Watson comes from a biracial family background and had no knowledge of Mr. Ratanapakdees race or vulnerabilities since the elderly man was wearing a mask, hat, sweater and jeans. 19-year-old Antoine Watson, pushing . 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. We dont know how to attribute this rise in reporting, he told me. 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. All rights reserved. Video footage shows the teen running at Ratanapakdee and pushing him over, knocking him to the ground. hitType: 'event', 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. Now all that remained was the memory of him, the sound of his voice in her head. Body camera footage of the encounter led police to identify him. Right, Mr. Vicha receiving the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Maylasia Goo also arrested. She is a 2021-22 Knight-Wallace reporting fellow at the University of Michigan and an inaugural recipient of the American Mosaic Journalism Prize. Monthanus was too emotional then. To fully appreciate the challenges that Wan and Lacoste face requires understanding the forces that have shaped that neighborhood, and many others, over decades redlining and employment discrimination, the long shadow of multiple tech booms, the burden of street violence, inadequate mental-health care, surging homelessness, the police response to all of it. 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. Notifications can be turned off anytime from browser settings. 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. When she came back in, she noticed his tablet was gone. Eric also busied himself with emails to architects and building managers in Chinatown, where he was planning a mural a few blocks from the Dragon Gate. People use the "young teenager" label on him as an excuse to obviously protect him and his behavior. His older daughter, Monthanus, described her father as a devoted Buddhist. Wans group, Community Youth Center, responded by opening a new office in Bayview-Hunters Point, where the attacks occurred. Police arrested two people Saturday in connection with Thursday's filmed attack that left an elderly California man dead. Members of the department's arson task force took . Monthanus and Eric had been busy arranging her fathers funeral while fielding phone calls and messages from family, friends and strangers. Rachel Marshall / (415) 416-4468 / Rachel.Marshall@sfgov.org - SAN FRANCISCO-Today, San Francisco District Attorney Boudin announced that the District Attorney's Office has filed charges against two people for the crime that took the life of 76 year-old private investigator Jack Palladino and will file charges against one person for the murder of 84 year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee. 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. gads_event = event; Antoine Watson of Daly City, age 21, was arrested for Murder Assault w/Deadly Weapon Or Assault w/Force Likely To Produce GBI Elder Or Dependent Adult Abuse in San Francisco County, California on January 30, 2021 by San Francisco County Sheriff. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Rev. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. She told me, Go wash the blood right away, Monthanus says. Left, Mr. Vicha holding his young daughter next to his wife. She had come every morning to wish her father a safe journey. Antoine Watson, 19, . Mom, you know what? Watson has reportedlypleaded not guilty to the incident but his lawyer admits that his client had an "outburst of rage. A news cameraman wrestled with his tripod. hitType: 'event', In March, Jeung says, Stop AAPI Hate received roughly 2,800 reports, about the same number he received in all of 2020. They asked the state attorney generals office to help them track what they believed to be a growing number of episodes. Their marigold robes glowed in the sun. 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 . 3 min read. 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 . 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. In the past week the California Legislature approved $1.4 million in funding to track and research racist incidents against Asian-Americans. As he was escorted out of the courtroom, an older woman later identified as his grandmother shouted, "I love you Antoine! She clutched a few sheets of paper in one hand. Editor's note: In the wake of numerous incidents of anti-Asian assaults and increasing concern over violent crime in San Francisco, . His public defender, Sliman Nawabi, challenged the murder charge, arguing that Watson did not intend to kill Vicha. hitType: 'event', eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), He was booked on suspicion of murder, elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon. 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. 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. 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. A photograph of Vicha Ratanapakdee that hangs in his daughters home. She told her husband, Eric Lawson, who rushed home from the restaurant where he worked. "Racism has once again proven deadly" An elderly Thai man was knocked down and killed by a teenager in San Francisco. 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. Hi! he shouted over and over. Family believes attack of 84-year-old man in San Francisco was racial motivated. Ratanapakdee's head hit the pavement as he fell. 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. Others have injured or killed people without saying a word. She thought about Antoine, knowing there were people in his life who loved him. In each instance, the bystanders appeared to do nothing. 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. Then Came a Brutal Attack. A San Francisco judge has ruled that a man accused of killing an 84-year-old Thai grandfather will stand trial. At the rallies they attended, every now and then a different Black man approached the microphone, or met with the couple on the sidelines, and tried his best to break the ice. They said they didnt have the capacity to track racism, Jeung says. ga('ads.send', { window.googletag.cmd.push(function() { At the time of the attack, Mr. Vicha was only months away from being able to return to Thailand. I met Monthanus one breezy afternoon in April at Wat Nagara Dhamma, a Buddhist temple outfitted inside a small two-story house across the street from Golden Gate Park. 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. The neighbor didnt appear to speak English, but he pointed toward her and shouted, Right there! Monthanus looked down. On that morning a number of security cameras in the area captured Mr. Watson banging a car with his hand, according to Mr. Boudin, the district attorney. 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 . 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. And in a way I kind of am. It was the second such march in a week; the first, in Oakland, California, also drew dozens of supporters, many of them carrying signs demanding that racism be stamped out, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Officers arrested Antoine Watson on Saturday after serving a warrant at a Daly City home. A surveillance video captured what happened next. 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. I killed Dad.. Mr. Vicha went on to study at Thammasat University in Bangkok, one of the countrys most prestigious institutions. The grandmother of a teen who senselessly pushed and killed a Thai grandfather has said her grandson should walk free. Where did the assault happen? Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle. He graduated from Ithaca College with a Bachelors of Science in Television-Radio. 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. 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. By William McCurry. SF teen who killed 84-year-old man by shoving him to pavement pleads not guilty. 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. 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. Chesa Boudin, the San Francisco district attorney, says Mr. Vichas death was heinous. Give him a chance, she could hear her father saying. 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 . 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. Mourners have left flowers and condolences by a garage door at the spot where Mr. Vicha was attacked in the Anza Vista neighborhood of San Francisco. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. 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. "Our officers identified our suspect as 19-year-old Antoine Watson of Daly City. Monthanus wailed softly. Watson entered a not guilty plea to charges of murder and elder abuse causing death during the brief court appearance. 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. ga('create', 'UA-67136960-15', 'auto', 'ads'); Monthanus wondered at first, her mind thick with shock. hitType: 'event', a white gunman killed eight people at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis. She felt similarly snubbed after asking the advocate about applying for compensation for lost wages. or redistributed. } 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 suspect, Antoine Watson, was arrested and charged with murder and is pending trial. Your father is a victim. (Under California law, families of victims are eligible for work compensation only if a minor died or was hospitalized.). 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. 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. I believe people are better than the worst things they have done," said Breed. },false) document.querySelector("#adunit").addEventListener('click',function(){ He didnt take anything from my father, not even the tablet, she says. One month after the Atlanta shootings, a white gunman killed eight people at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis. (Eric, who worked at two restaurants as a server and manager before the pandemic, was on unemployment.) San Francisco's district attorney charged Antoine Watson, the 19-year-old accused of shoving Vicha to death, with murder and elder abuse.