Vicha Ratanapadi
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A San Francisco man was charged with killing an 84-year-old Thai grandfather in an attack that galvanized Asian-Americans and helped prompt a successful recall, a judge ruled in June. The city’s liberal prosecutor, who was ordered to stand trial 17.
The January 2021 attack on Vicha Ratanapakdee further crushed Asian Americans, who were already terrified by a surge in attacks targeting members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, especially seniors.
Video footage played in witness testimony last week showed Antoine Watson sprinting through the street and knocking down Ratanapakdee, who was taking her usual morning walk. He died two days later.
Watson’s attorney, Anita Naba, said he appeared distressed after a tense confrontation with police hours earlier, and may not have known the man was elderly, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Ratanapakdee’s death was one of the reasons for the successful recall of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin. Recall supporters say liberal prosecutors are not taking crimes against Asians seriously, a view that recall opponents have challenged.
