A video recording of a man physically assaulting and spewing racial slurs at an elderly Asian man collecting cans in San Francisco is gaining worldwide attention, reports ABC.
The original video was posted on Instagram, where it was reposted by other users before the account owner removed it.
In response to what has yet to be labelled a hate crime, San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton proposed the possibility of including an anti-violence component to the Vision Zero plan, which seeks to eliminate traffic deaths.
“Elder abuse is taking place,” Walton announced. “We’re working on getting somebody intermittently who can work with our office to coordinate how to respond to and prevent and intervene in violence in our district as a whole.”
This is not the first time an incident like this has occurred. In 2010, the Community Ambassadors Program (CAP) was created to increase neighborhood safety after two elderly Asian men were attacked.
CAP operates in five San Francisco neighborhoods, including Bayview where the assault took place. Although the group has members who speak Chinese, none were present at the time of the attack.
Police are currently attempting to identify and find the man who was assaulted.
The police encourage anyone with information about the event to call their anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444
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