Anti-Asian hate crimes have increased during the pandemic, according to reports.
A suspect has been arrested in a violent attack and robbery that left a 75-year-old Asian American man brain dead after being assaulted while he was out during his routine morning walk in Oakland’s Chinatown Community, CBS San Francisco reported.
On Tuesday, hours after the assault, investigators collected evidence and took the suspect into custody. The suspect was not identified, a report said.
The latest attack happened on Tuesday just before 7 a.m. at the intersection of Jayne Avenue and Perkins Street. The victim was shoved to the other ground and left with critical injuries, community representatives told KPIX5.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Anti-Asian hate crimes have spiked not only in the Chinatown area of Oakland but nationwide, according to reports. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf called the attack "reprehensible," and said in a statement that police would "investigate thoroughly to determine whether this was racially motivated or a vile crime of opportunity.”
Authorities have been trying to address the increase in crime and attacks on older members of the Oakland and San Francisco communities, the news outlet said.
The California advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate has reported more than 3,0000 incidents nationwide on Asian Americans that have been caught on video since the start of the pandemic. New York-based rapper China Mac, an anti-racism activist who has organized a number of protests and recently traveled to Oakland, told CBS News that he has seen a spike in crime perpetrated against Asians. He said the increase in violence against Asian communities is tied to anti-Asian rhetoric around the coronavirus.
Oakland Police Chief LeRonne L. Armstrong told KPIX5 that he was “saddened to hear of yet another violent attack on the elders of our community,’ and said he and his team were committed to bringing these “crimes to justice.”
The Oakland Reimagining Public Safety Task Force held a meeting on Tuesday to get the public’s input on public safety and violent crimes in the area.
The Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce President said that the attack "was hurtful" and that he was "more sad than angry" over it. He asked for more police patrol in the area. Meanwhile, an advisory board member called the recent attacks “the years of results of de-investment” that has fallen upon the Black community and communities of color and said now “the Asian community feeling the brunt of that at this moment,” CBS News reported.
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