Controversial far-Left District Attorney Chesa Boudin dismissed the killing of an 84-year-old Thai immigrant as nothing more than a “sort of temper tantrum” gone wrong.
San Francisco’s chief prosecutor addressed the January death of Vicha Ratanapakdee at a time when many Asian Americans feel targeted based on their race.
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“It appears that the defendant was in some sort of a temper tantrum,” Boudin told the New York Times after dismissing any suggestion that the killing happened due to racial prejudice.
That response from Boudin sparked outrage from Ratanapakdee’s family, who deemed the remarks insensitive.
“I don’t buy it for a second. I don’t buy it for a second. He knew what he was doing. Hearing this excuse of a hissy fit is really upsetting,” Eric Lawson, Ratanapakdee’s son-in-law, told ABC7.
Almost immediately after Boudin’s comments, video footage emerged of the killing, which showed the alleged assailant, 19-year-old Antoine Watson, pushing Ratanapakdee to the ground and then later taking photos of the body.
“I want to know the truth, a clear truth,” Lawson said. “I hope my father’s case raises awareness for the Asian community. … I wish the Asian community speaks up.”
Watson’s attorney admits the killing took place during an “outburst of rage,” despite the not-guilty plea.
A spokesperson for Boudin said the comments weren’t meant to diminish the severity of the crime and that his office “charged the killing of Mr. Ratanapakdee as a murder, the most serious crime on the books.”
Ratanapakdee’s death led to California lawmakers, citing a sharp increase in race-based crimes against Asian immigrants, to pass $1.4 million in funding for Asian Americans to report hate crimes.
“The rise in hate incidents against Asian Americans during the pandemic is alarming. But, we can’t solve a problem without knowing how big it is,” San Francisco assemblyman Phil Ting said in a statement last month. “New state funding allows the data gathering to continue, and the research will ultimately lead us to solutions that will make all communities safer.”
Boudin, who ran on a controversial platform of restorative justice policies rather than law-and-order, has seen a sharp uptick in violent crime during his brief tenure as district attorney.
Just a few weeks ago, police announced an investigation into four suspects who allegedly severely beat a disabled man and stole his wheelchair.
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Hours after Ratanapakdee’s death, attackers killed 76-year-old famed private investigator and attorney Jack Palladino in a botched robbery.
“My heart goes out to the families of both victims for these senseless, violent attacks. These horrific crimes cause seniors and all of us to feel unsafe,” Boudin said in a statement. “Violent crimes are my top priority. We will hold the people who committed these crimes accountable: We will prosecute them for murder.”
A growing minority of San Francisco residents have concluded that their city’s rising crime necessitates a new district attorney altogether. At the beginning of the year, a recall petition against Boudin gained traction following the deaths of two women after a parolee in a stolen car ran them over despite being apprehended by police just hours earlier on suspicion of possessing a stolen vehicle.
