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. A photograph of Vicha Ratanapakdee that hangs in his daughters home. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Monthanus was too emotional then. Ratanapakdee was brought to San Francisco General Hospital, but he eventually died on Saturday. Eric complimented his vest and said he thought about wearing his. 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 . It appears that the defendant was in some sort of a temper tantrum, Mr. Boudin said. Then Came a Brutal Attack. gads_event = event; ga('ads.send', { 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. assault in Western Addition that led to the death an 84-year-old man, police said. A test soon showed that they had H1N1, a common strain of influenza, and their symptoms subsided within a week. That evening, the couple stood at the doorway to her fathers room on the third-floor intensive-care unit. That afternoon, the couple taped their first interview, with the KTVU reporter Evan Sernoffsky, near the courthouse steps. 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 and her parents subscribed to a Buddhist belief that, after death, the soul takes 100 days to reach the afterlife. Why you looking at me? and then a crushing sound., Watson pleaded not guilty. SAN FRANCISCOAntoine Watson, 19, who was arrested on January 30 for the deadly assault on an elderly man, 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee, was held without bail after a court hearing on Monday, February 8. }) 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. Three monks carried piles of orchids and roses, a framed photo of Vicha and a forest green box holding his remains. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, We matter, and racism is killing us.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. He's currently . Antoine, he shouted, holding up the baby. ALSO READ: Suspects Sought In Home Invasion Robbery Of Elderly Woman In San Francisco. 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. Mr. Vicha went on to study at Thammasat University in Bangkok, one of the countrys most prestigious institutions. When Monthanus talked about these incidents, how the outside world didnt feel safe anymore, her father would ask, Is it really that bad? SAN FRANCISCO, CAA San Francisco African-American teen accused of murdering 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee in January 2021 was ordered to stand trial, a judge ruled Friday.. Anita Nabha, 20-year-old Antoine Watson's attorney, said he was distressed after a "stressful encounter with police hours earlier" and may not have known the man was elderly, reports the San . The hearing was brief and procedural; a trial date has yet to be set. The incident was caught on camera, galvanizing the national Stop Asian Hate movement. Two days after entering the hospital, just before dawn, Vicha died in his sleep. It was still early, Monthanus reminded herself, but she also couldnt shake the feeling that the world seemed to be moving on. His comments tugged at a bigger, messier debate about race that had been building around the attacks. Pa, can you hear me? she repeated. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), Patrol officers' body camera footage of the encounter led officers to later identify Watson as the suspect in the murder of Ratanapakdee. Legal Statement. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. He said she didnt want to go to court; she just wanted to bury it. Rev. 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. Betty Louie, an adviser to the San Francisco Chinatown Merchants Association, remembered that back when she had owned gift shops in the neighborhood, 25 years ago, "we . Sliman Nawabi, a deputy public defender representing Watson, disputed the perception that the attack was racially motivated. Im just a human being who feels things., He pondered this while sitting in his car, in the spot where Antoine reportedly parked on the morning of the attack on Vicha. Why was no one intervening? 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. Monthanus squatted and scrubbed as her mother poured a jug of water over the concrete, the headlights shining behind them. Wheres Grandpa? Troy asked her. }) It's not clear Watson's motivation. 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. 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. All rights reserved. Two days after Vicha died, Eric created a GoFundMe page to raise money for the funeral, which included a photo of Vicha and a description of his assailant derived from a mix of facts and raw emotion: A despicable 19-year-old thug that came to his neighborhood in a stolen vehicle and decided to prove how tough he was by brutalizing a senior citizen, Eric wrote. 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. Im a bad daughter, she would say. 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. Family believes attack of 84-year-old man in San Francisco was racial motivated. hitType: 'event', 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. On the morning of Jan. 28, when Monthanus and the children were still asleep, he prepared to head out. The nurse who picked up, however, only had more questions. CONTACTS:. He has pled not guilty to charges of murder and elder abuse causing death. Ratanapakdee is seen 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. October 2021. As he was escorted out of the courtroom, an older woman later identified as his grandmother shouted, "I love you Antoine! 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. } 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. Some assailants have yelled slurs while throwing a punch or slashing at their victims with a knife. A Feb. 9 report by Stop Asian American Pacific Islander Hate foundover 2,808 firsthand accounts of anti-Asian hate from 47 states and the District of Columbiabetween March 19, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2020, with 126 accounts (7.3% of total incidents)of anti-Asian hate involving Americans over 60 years old. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), } 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! Elderly Thai man in San Francisco killed by teen in unprovoked attack. It was then that Mr. Vicha walked up Anzavista Avenue, a street with views of skyscrapers in the citys financial district. 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. On the far side of the bridge, where the bay meets the Pacific, the engine stopped. 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 . }); Monthanus wanted to speak to the judge, too. New images have continued to surface on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. These laws can add time to an underlying sentence; in California, they can extend a sentence by three years. A news cameraman wrestled with his tripod. 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. 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. Im going to take care of you. hitType: 'event', She debated whether to show it to her mother, who had become more fragile after a recent stroke. a white gunman killed eight people at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis. Poypiti Amatatham contributed reporting from Bangkok. In the . February 4, 2021 / 6:00 AM These stories have prompted continuous news coverage and social-media obsession, and beneath it all there lurks a desire to understand what is driving the attacks and how, exactly, race is playing a role. 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. In March, Jeung says, Stop AAPI Hate received roughly 2,800 reports, about the same number he received in all of 2020. Vicha Ratanapakdee as he is knocked to the ground Thursday by an attacker later identified as 19-year-old Antoine Watson in San Francisco, at left, and Vicha in an undated photo, at right. eventAction: 'click_image_ads' One witness at the scene told officers that he saw a Black male, 18 to 30 years old, approach and stand over an elderly man lying on the ground. Officers arrested Antoine Watson, 19, and his female companion . His killing came at a time when other disturbing images and reports were emerging from across the San Francisco Bay. Believe Attack Was Racially Motivated., Vichas story joined a cluster of reports about attacks on Asian elders in four cities. One of the biggest flaws of hate-crime laws, she says, is their focus on punishment. This is in part because the defendant already faces a long prison sentence, and also because, as one prosecutor put it, its impossible to know whats in someones heart. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported in June that federal prosecutors declined to pursue hate-crimes charges in about four out of every five cases from 2005 to 2019, citing insufficient evidence.. . 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. . When she made it to the hill, she noticed a neighbor working in his garage and asked if he knew where the episode happened the other day. By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ February 2, 2021. 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. So we created our own website. (The California attorney generals office collects data on hate crimes in the state but not other cases involving verbal harassment, for example, which often dont constitute crimes.). Everybody I talked to said it was from a Black person, he told me. Watson entered a not guilty plea to charges of murder . 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. Eric, who grew up near San Jose, described himself as someone who never thought much about race during his upbringing. Monthanus wailed softly. A long, thick tube protruded from Vichas head. document.querySelector("#ads").addEventListener('click',function(){ 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. The whole family is in deep agony, Jennifer Steiner, a longtime friend whom Antoines mother chose to speak on her behalf, told me. Asian Americans in San Francisco are leading the campaign to recall the city's far-left District Attorney Chesa Boudin on June 7. . When they got home, he pulled out her phone, and instead of putting on his usual cartoons, he scrolled through her photos. I want him to be close to me, she said. "The rise in hate incidents against Asian Americans during the pandemic is alarming. . She had come every morning to wish her father a safe journey. But inevitably they would get in the car with a poster of Vicha in the back. In February, two joggers, women, yelled something about germs at her older son as he played on a dock with a friend. 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. 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. Believe Attack Was Racially Motivated., Amanda Nguyen, a prominent activist, shared Sernoffskys report. As she watched the parade of flowers and ashes float out to sea, she spoke to him. window.adsContainer = {"positionAfterTitle":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle5_Rel_Newrev","isOrganicUserAd":true,"max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position2":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_After_Title_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position3":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Below_Next_Rel_Newrev","max_width":300,"max_height":250},"position4":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle_Rel_Newrev","max_width":300,"max_height":250},"position5":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle1_Rel_Newrev","max_width":300,"max_height":250},"position6":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle2_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position7":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle3_Rel_Newrev","max_width":300,"max_height":250},"position8":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle4_Rel_Newrev","max_width":300,"max_height":250},"position9":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle5_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position10":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle6_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position11":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle7_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position12":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle8_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position13":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle9_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position14":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle10_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position15":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle11_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"position16":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_Middle12_Rel_Newrev","max_width":336,"max_height":280},"positionTop":{"code":"Article_Desktop_970x250_Header_Rel","isOrganicUserAd":false,"max_width":970,"max_height":250},"positionBottom":{"code":"Article_Desktop_Sidebar_Bottom_Rel_Newrev","isOrganicUserAd":true,"max_width":300,"max_height":600},"positionBottomRight":{"code":"Article_Desktop_300x250_After_Title_Rel_Newrev","isOrganicUserAd":true,"max_width":336,"max_height":280}} Watson, along with his accomplice in the killing, pled "not guilty" at their court hearings. hitType: 'event', His brothers and sisters are there, Ms. Monthanus said. I wonder if its my inner racism coming out. She tried calling it. It looked like blood, but she wasnt sure. 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. Security footage, circulated widely on the internet, shows a man running towards Vicha and throwing him violently to the ground before turning around and fleeing, according to KTVU Fox 2 News.. Vicha died in hospital in the early hours of Saturday and soon after, police reportedly charged a 19-year-old man, Antoine Watson, with murder and 20-year-old female friend, Maylasia Goo, with being an . But the steps were nearly empty. By William McCurry. At one point, a neurologist hinted that if it were his father, he would most likely take him off life support. Monthanus didnt hesitate. In April, Monthanus and Eric attended a rally opposite City Hall, where a hundred or so people gathered on a sandy plaza for speeches and martial-arts demonstrations. For Mr. Vicha, who stood 5 feet 6 inches and weighed 113 pounds, the attack was fatal. document.querySelector("#adunit").addEventListener('click',function(){ 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. February 8, 2021 / 3:17 PM The day after Monthanus and Eric's first TV appearance, San Francisco's district attorney charged Antoine Watson, the 19-year-old accused of shoving Vicha to death, with murder and elder abuse . 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. Lucas Manfredi is a general assignment reporter for Fox News. 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. He was booked on suspicion of murder, elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon. 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. 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. . 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. 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. Maylasia Goo also arrested. We dont know how to attribute this rise in reporting, he told me. 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. I believe people are better than the worst things they have done," said Breed. A witness told the police they heard a voice shouting, Why you lookin at me? twice before hearing Ratanapakdee, prosecutors said. window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('impressionViewable', function(event) { 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. Police . Two hours later, Antoine finally entered the room. For weeks, Monthanus Ratanapakdee urged her parents to please. 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. 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. 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 . . Vicha Ratanapakdee, a Thailand native who his family says emigrated to America to . A local ABC News affiliate had posted footage from a surveillance camera. "Look, I believe in second chances. Theres been a half-million deaths. 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. Shortly after Vicha was pronounced dead, Monthanuss phone rang. But what brought her out to the rallies, more than anything, was her desire for someone to answer for the loss of her father. Youre going to survive, Dad, Monthanus told him. A photograph of Vicha Ratanapakdee that hangs in his daughters home.CreditKevin Kunishi for The New York Times. Anyone who thinks San Francisco is an easy touch, you need to think twice." . },false) Watson entered a not guilty plea to charges of murder and elder abuse causing death during the brief court appearance. On Jan. 15, he received the first shot of the Moderna vaccine. She said: You are not a victim. When her mother saw the video, she stiffened. MEAWW brings you the best content from its global team of At Watsons bail hearing, Nawabi said he recognized the racial overtones of the case, but added, This false narrative that this is a targeted attack on the Asian community or an elderly man is misleading and prejudicial. He asked the court to order a neuropsychological evaluation and proposed releasing Watson to home confinement, where his family could look after him, along with requiring therapy and counseling, so that Watson wouldnt become another statistic in the criminal-justice world.. It's common sense, and we knew his intention. Monthanus pulled him close, from behind; she didnt want him to see her crying.
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