Video showing witness of attack on Oakland Asian woman punching the attacker draws mostly support
January 12, 2022
A witness of an unprovoked attack on an Asian elderly woman in Oakland’s Chinatown on Monday retaliated by punching the attacker in the head, as caught on video.
The partially blurred footage, which was shared by ABC7 San Francisco journalist Dion Lim on her Instagram account today, shows the bystander punching the attacker after he watched him shove an Asian woman in her 70s, causing the perpetrator to hit a sign.
“I sat on this video for a full day and thought long and hard whether or not to share it and how to do so responsibly,” Lim captioned her post. “Many said they would find it satisfying. That they wished they could do the same in these situations. Ultimately that’s not why I’m posting it.”
“It illustrates the frustrations and need to act of many Asian Americans and community members during this time,” she added. “A lot of people request blurring on videos. While it’s not always ideal, it protects those involved for a number of reasons. The man who punched the suspect told me he doesn’t believe two wrongs make a right but this was a reactionary move.”
Many commenters thanked the journalist for sharing the video and the witness for standing up for the elderly Asian woman.
“That man is a hero,” a comment with over 200 likes from an Instagram user read. “He showed this dude that there’s always someone watching and someone who cares, and there will be repercussions. He shows people that there will always be people who will defend the weak and oppressed. He didn’t need to go in for a beat down, that would’ve been revenge. He has a lot of refrain. He showed this dude acknowledgement. Thank you for sharing. Bravo to him. I hope they catch and charge this dude.”
“Thank you for posting and we understand and support where you are coming from,” the official Instagram account of the nonprofit Asians Are Strong wrote. “For all the trolls that are about to comment, this is NOT to incite violence but to show what happens to a community when we are being attacked and not protected. We see this as highlighting a brewing problem and a warning to the world of how bad things are getting. And with the lack of government leadership to do anything, incidents like this will continue to happen. And we fear that it will happen with more frequency at an increasingly faster rate.”
The victim, who was walking westbound on 9th Street toward Franklin Street, has not been identified, as NextShark previously reported. The suspect was described as a Black man approximately 35-years-old and around 6 feet tall with a slim build by the Oakland police.
While the investigation is still ongoing, the Oakland Police Department’s General Crimes Unit urges anyone with information to contact their department at (510) 238-3728.
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