Two Elderly Asian Women Victims of Unprovoked Attacks in San Francisco

Two Asian women in their 80s were the victims of unprovoked attacks in downtown San Francisco this month, weeks after a 63-year-old Chinese-American woman died after she was pushed to the ground, the San Francisco Standard reported.

In the most recent incident, a woman was transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, including internal bleeding, after being thrown and kicked to the ground.

A witness helped detain the suspect until officers arrived at the scene, according to The San Francisco Standard. The suspect was identified as James Lee Ramsey, the DA told the news outlet, and charges against him are pending.

A week earlier, a 86-year-old woman was pushed to the ground in a similar unprovoked attack, the San Francisco Police Department said. The woman suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to the hospital.

The incidents were first reported by Wind Newspaper, a publication that reports in both English and Chinese. The unidentified victim reportedly suffered a broken hip, and her attacker was described as a white man around the age of 30.

The two attacks come after a fatal shoving earlier this month. A 63-year-old Chinese American woman died after being shoved and hitting her head on the ground, SFist reported. The incident was first ruled as an accident but was declared a hate crime after further investigation.

According to data compiled by the San Francisco Police Department, those who identify as AAPI constitute 11% of assault victims citywide and 25% of elder abuse victims— the highest percentage among all racial groups.

Hate crime data from across the country, collected by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism in 2022, found that anti-Asian crimes rose by 339% in 2021 compared with 2020.

Crimes against East Asian individuals, specifically seniors, have been on a rise since the start of the pandemic in 2020. San Francisco reported the highest increase in attacks against the AAPI community the city has ever seen in 2022 with an increase of 567% from the previous year.