Police step up investigation into assault on Asian American seniors

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    Oakland, California (KPIX) — Oakland police said Thursday they are searching for the suspect who was caught on camera forcefully pushing down a 91-year-old man in Chinatown and victimizing two others.

“This is something we must change and change it now,” said Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce president Carl Chan.

The attack occurred in the 800 block of Harrison Street at 12:10 p.m. Sunday. Two more victims — a 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman — were taken to the hospital. The three victims’ conditions are unknown.

Chan said, since the attack, a normally bustling Chinatown ahead of Lunar New Year, has been eerily quiet as fear has taken over the community.

He said the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office will step up patrols in the area during the holiday and that he has asked for Oakland police assistance as well.

Chan said community members plan to hand out whistles to residents to use in case they are attacked.

The violence against Asians in the Bay Area has been a growing trend in the past several months.

Kathy Duong’s mother was robbed outside Dai Thanh supermarket in downtown San Jose on Wednesday. Duong said her mother was unharmed.

“We’re seeing countless elders in the Asian American community being targeted, attacked and robbed throughout the Bay Area,” she said.

Duong was part of a news conference held by San Jose councilmember Raul Peralez. Police warned the Asian community to be extra vigilant as they gather to celebrate Lunar New Year and Tet, the Vietnamese New Year. Tet and Lunar New Year fall on the same day next week. However, Lunar New Year is typically a two-week celebration.

“Please, we are all the same,” Chan pleaded. “We are the people of this community.”

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