San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins filed hate crime charges against a man accused of attacking three Asian Americans in Dolores Park this week, including a 73-year-old.
Armando Sanchez Vazuquez, 30, pleaded not guilty to three counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of elder abuse for allegedly heaving a brick and metal grate at the three people on Monday, allegedly because of their race. His next court date is February 15.
If convicted of all charges, Vazuquez could be sentenced to 10 years in state prison. He was arrested Monday afternoon and is being held in San Francisco County Jail on a $51,500 bond, jail records show.
Threats and violence against Asian Americans escalated during the pandemic, coinciding with racist rhetoric from then-President Trump, who repeatedly blamed China for the spread of COVID-19.
While officials in the Bay Area and other regions have pledged to protect Asian American communities, fear and pain continue to smolder, heightened by recent attacks such as last month’s mass shooting in Monterey Park. In that massacre, a gunman crept into a ballroom, killing 11 people as they celebrated the Lunar New Year in an Asian American hub of the San Gabriel Valley.
“No one should face discrimination or violence because of who they are,” Jenkins said in a statement, in which she acknowledged that reports of hate crimes against Asian Americans have decreased since 2021, but that officials “must remain vigilant and send the strongest possible message that hate and violence will not be tolerated in San Francisco.”
Public defender Kleigh Hathaway, who represents Vazuquez, expressed doubt that he “was aware of his alleged actions at the time,” adding that “it is far too early to conclude that any conduct was fueled by racial animus.”
Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer….
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