AAPI groups send letter to San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin urging him to recognize anti-Asian hate
By Jiselle Lee
Nine Asian American and Pacific Islander advocacy groups sent a letter to San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin asking for him to acknowledge hate crimes against AAPIs.
Letter: The California Asian Pacific American Bar Association (Cal-APABA) authored a letter, also co-signed by seven other local and national AAPI organizations, to San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin asking him to address ongoing violence against members of the community.
- KGO-TV San Francisco Reporter Dion Lim tweeted screenshots of a letter that the California Asian Pacific American Bar Association (Cal-APABA) sent to Boudin on Oct. 18.
- The letter asks DA Boudin to charge the man who killed 84-year old Vicha Ratanapakdee with a hate crime in addition to the existing DA’s office charges of assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse and murder.
- The letter also suggests the DA’s office improve its communication with families of victims and the importance of acknowledging hate crimes against AAPI, citing StopAAPIHate’s report of more than 9,000 nationwide attacks since March 2020.
- “Members of the community deserve to know they’re being protected if they’ve been victimized by a crime that the DA is properly communicating with them in providing the proper resources,” Cal-APABA executive director Charles Jung said. “No one is perfect, we don’t expect the DA to be perfect but we do expect him to communicate.”
- Cal-APABA represents the interests of AAPI bar organizations and the over 14,000 AAPI attorneys statewide to promote justice and equality, advance legal and policy matters that impact the AAPI community and enhance the professional development of its members.
- The letter is signed by eight local and national organizations: Stand With Asian Americans, Asians Are Strong, Chinatown Safety Patrol, Delta Chinatown Initiative, Revive SF Chinatown, SF Cause — San Francisco Community Alliance for Unity, Safety and Education, Southeast Asian Development Center, Stand With Asians and AAPI Activist Ashlyn So.
Past Controversy: Boudin has been asked about his controversial response to the murder of Ratanapakdee in the past.
- Lim tweeted about Boudin back in March to criticize his saying that Ratanapakdee’s killer was having a “temper tantrum” in a New York Times article.
- After, Boudin had claimed that his quote was taken out of context.
Feature Image via Jason Leung
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