According to the reports, a street in San Francisco has been renamed after an 84-year-old man who died in a “senseless” anti-Asian hate attack last year. Sonora Lane will be renamed “Vicha Ratanapakdee Lane.”
Vicha Ratanapakdee, who had moved to the United States from Thailand, was walking in the Anza Vista neighbourhood on January 28 last year when he was violently shoved to the ground. Vicha Ratanapakdee never regained consciousness following the attack.
The attack, which was caught on CCTV, was one of many reported against Asian Americans in the United States in recent years. In San Francisco, it sparked public outrage, prompting artists to create murals and portraits of Vicha Ratanapakdee.
“This horrific incident was one of several senseless attacks against members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community here in the San Francisco — our friends and neighbors should not have to fear the unthinkable when they walk our streets,” Catherine Stefani, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors told.
Following the assault, a 19-year-old man was charged with murder and elder abuse, according to the report.