Chen Beiqi
Northwest Asia Weekly
At the Stewart and 9th bus stations, a woman suffered a concussion after being beaten by a bus passenger who refused to wear a mask. (Photo by Beiqi Chen)
Snapped! Judy (pseudonym) felt the tingling on her wrist, as if she had been found to be misbehaving. The source of her pain came from a female passenger who did not wear a mask when she first got on the bus, but was warned to wear it by the bus driver. While muttering to himself, the passenger grabbed the mask, plopped and sat on the seat near where Judy was standing. Then she stood up and attacked.
It was around 9 o’clock in the morning on July 21, the peak time of the South Lake Union. King County Subway (KCM) No. 70 bus runs along Fairview Avenue, swapping young skilled workers with others heading to the city center. Judy, the caretaker, is on his way to visit an elderly client near Pike Place Market. She is standing near the back door.
“I think she was angry because she saw that I was Asian and had to wear a mask,” Judy said in a quick, heavy Cantonese accent. “She slapped me on the wrist first, and then threw her bag of cans and metal at me. If it weren’t for the couple holding me with their hands, I almost fell.”
Fearing for her safety, Judy jumped out of the bus when the bus stopped at Stewart and Ninth, lost a shoe and her hat, and left a bag of clothes she planned to donate. The attacker was a black woman about 40, 5’7″ and 140 pounds tall, chasing Judy, who was 59 years old, 5 feet tall, and 115 pounds. She slammed Judy with her fist and waved the bag towards Judy’s head Judy shrank behind a man in fright at the bus stop. The man opened his arms like a cross, protecting Judy. Nevertheless, the attack continued. Only when the man said something, the attacker stopped. Then she left leisurely.
Judy came back on the same bus.
“Are you okay?” the bus driver asked.
Dizzy, shocked, and not fluent in English, Judy could not respond. She called her daughter Elaine (a pseudonym), and then she couldn’t cry.
An Asian female passenger comforted Judy in Mandarin and asked Elaine on the phone, “Do you need 9-1-1?”
It is unclear who played 9-1-1.
The bus driver could have called the radio. Each KCM bus is also equipped with an emergency button, which the driver can activate with his foot to secretly alert the main terminal. The driver has received training and neither directly intervenes nor touches anyone in the dispute. However, he or she can encourage the interfering party to get off the car and open the door to let other passengers who wish to get off the car.
After the call, Elaine ran a few blocks from their apartment to Stewart Street Station. Two representatives of the People’s Congress of Jinxian County were at the scene. They couldn’t communicate with Judy before Elaine arrived, so they talked to the bus driver.
By then, the good Samaritans who spoke Mandarin had disappeared.
Before getting into the ambulance with her mother, Elaine recalled, “One of the [deputies] Tell me,’Such things happen all the time. We just encountered a similar case this morning. There is nothing we can do. ‘”
In the hospital, Judy was diagnosed with a concussion.
“I really don’t understand why this happened to my mother. She is hardworking, kind, and generous,” Elaine said. “Even when we were poorest, she still managed to donate money to those in need. We are Christians!”
In 2008, Judy immigrated to the United States with her husband at the time and two young daughters from Guangdong, China, and got close to her sister who lives in Seattle.
Due to language barriers, Judy worked in several restaurants before becoming a caregiver for Chinese clients. In China, she works in human resources, finance and accounting. In 2007, before moving to the United States, Judy suffered a car accident and was frail. According to Elaine, she also suffered from depression due to divorce.
The attack exacerbated Judy’s condition. Now she has headaches, dizziness and soreness on the head and most of the left side. She suffers from insomnia and often hallucinations of someone approaching her. She is worried about her safety.
The day after the incident, Judy wanted to examine a 96-year-old customer, who was the only customer she kept during her recovery. Elaine had to accompany her.
“My mother likes to care about others. Now she can’t even take care of herself,” Elaine said.
Elaine was worried about leaving her mother alone. She went to college outside the state and will return to school soon as her last year. She hopes to have a future in the field of science and technology after graduation.
“My sister lives in Renton and is pregnant, and I am leaving. We can’t protect her here every day. Given what happened, it’s hard to believe that the police will take action to protect her in the future,” Elaine said.
With the increase in hate crimes in Asia after the COVID-19 pandemic, Elaine used her mother’s case as an stimulus to plead with Seattle politicians to help express the concerns of the Asian community and develop preventive measures to protect Asian Americans Security.
The King County Sheriff’s Office has assigned Detective Joshua Lamothe to investigate Judy’s case. If there are possible reasons that require further action, it will be submitted to the King County Attorney’s Office for consideration.
Judy and Elaine have hired lawyers from Herrmann Law Group to represent them.
Becky’s contact information is info@nwasianweekly.com.
