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A wave of attacks on older Asians has stoked fear in some major towns in Chinatown, leading authorities to assign additional officers ahead of Lunar New Year on Friday and take other steps to tackle a growing issue. ‘has worsened since the start of the year.
San Francisco is assigning more police officers to its Chinatown this week, for example, after older Asians were targeted in a wave of thefts, break-ins and assaults. Area officials have advised residents to be vigilant after three violent attacks on January 31 alone. An incident made national headlines when security cameras captured a 91-year-old man being kicked to the ground without provocation.
None are investigated as hate crimes, authorities said.
“These attacks were filmed and I do not only know these elderly people, but their family members live in fear when their grandparents or parents go out during New Years to do their shopping,” said the mayor of San. Francisco, London Breed.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed visited the city’s Chinatown on Monday to address residents’ growing security concerns and condemn the violence.
“These attacks were filmed and I don’t only know these elderly people, but their family members live in fear when their grandparents or parents go out on New Years to do their shopping,” she said. “We don’t tolerate this. … We have to treat every elderly person in this city as if they were our own parents, our own grandparents.
Carl Chan, a resident of Oakland’s Chinatown and chairman of the city’s chamber of commerce, said he had never seen so much violence in his neighborhood before.
“I’ve been here for so many years and thought I saw the worst,” he said. “But we actually see worse than that.”
Greater caution during Lunar New Year events
On the day his gift shop was broken into, Kenneth Lam called for a greater police presence in the area along with many other members of the community with the same plea. During a busy shopping season like the Lunar New Year, Chan said the violence had hurt businesses because older residents told him “they were actually afraid to go out, to walk their own streets. “.
“Due to the increase in the number of crimes,” he said, “many of our customers have decided to refuse to come to Chinatown and shop elsewhere.”
Another attack on January 31 captured on surveillance video turned fatal after 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee was pushed to the ground by a 19-year-old assailant. Ratanapakdee, who is Thai-American, was on the march when the striker ran from behind, pushed him to the ground and walked away. Ratanapakdee died of his injuries a few days later.
In solidarity and to condemn the violence, many Asian Americans on social media changed their profile picture to an illustration of Ratanapakdee for 24 hours.
While none of these incidents or the Oakland attacks have been investigated as hate crimes, Ratanapakdee’s son-in-law and daughter spoke to KPIX, a CBS News outlet, saying that ‘they thought racism was definitely a factor. Her daughter, Monthanus Ratanapakdee, said she had been targeted for her race during the pandemic.
“When people [see] me because I’m Asian, they blame me for bringing the Covid to this country, ”she said.
Chan also said he has seen people blame Chinatown residents for Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic. He also believes Asians are often targeted due to the stereotype that they keep a lot of cash at home and in their business.
Major cities saw more violence against Asians last week, with a 64-year-old woman assaulted and robbed in San Jose, California; a 70-year-old woman shoved and robbed in Oakland; and a 61-year-old man was punched in the face after an argument in a New York subway.
Last week, actors Daniel Dae Kim and Daniel Wu announced that they were offering a reward of $ 25,000 for information leading to an arrest in the Oakland attacks, but shortly after, police announced that a person of interest was already in custody on unrelated charges.
Some say calls for more policing might not be the answer
John C. Yang, chief executive officer of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, says he thinks the violence is a clear manifestation of the anti-Asian rhetoric and hatred that has persisted since the start of the pandemic. Yang said that ACCA data shows Asian Americans reported more than 3,000 hate incidents last year.
“And these are just self-assessments,” he says. He blames the Trump administration for using hateful and deceptive rhetoric for Chinese scapegoats when it talks about Covid-19. He said anxiety is growing among Asian communities where this violence is occurring.
“There is no doubt that there is fear,” he said. “They themselves are already facing the pandemic, but then they have the second virus to fight, the virus of racism.”
But as some community leaders in Oakland’s Chinatown call for more cops on the streets, Yang says excessive community surveillance could do more harm than good.
“An increased police presence will not necessarily solve the problem,” he said. “We are concerned about the over-criminalization of communities. … We could develop community solutions – assistance to victims, assistance to damaged businesses.
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