Two security guards who responded to the attack on an Asian man in San Francisco have been put on administrative leave, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.
Several bystanders surrounded and allegedly harassed and robbed the man as he collected cans.
The security guards appear to be asking the man to leave in the video instead of assisting him.
“I would say that with all due respect to the rest of the officers, this does not depict how we conduct business or how we service our community,” said Capt. Ladale Slocum of the private security firm based in Napa. “This was a situation that was very unfortunate and we are dealing with the matter internally.”
Some who have seen the video have assumed the men were San Francisco police officers, but the Department says no police officers were present.
In response to the attack, the city is hosting a unity rally today where the attack occurred.
“I want to be clear: We don’t want to try and bait any kind of race war,” says Mayor Breed to ABC7 News. “We live in the same community, we go to the same grocery stores, our kids go to the same schools. And it’s important that we bridge that gap.”
Dr. Connie Wun, the executive director of AAPI Women Lead, and Eddy Zheng, the founder and president of New Breath Foundation, says its time to take a step back and reflect.
“While social media outlets may want to make this a hate crime, Asian community leaders and members who have been historically working on Black and Asian relations oppose the impulse to criminalize communities. Instead, we understand the event as one that is rooted in issues related to poverty, limited resources, cultural conflicts, and systemic rage,” the two said in a joint statement to ABC7 News.
Police say they’ve identified the man being attacked, but have not released his name. CBS5 says the victim is in his 70s, has lived in San Francisco for six years and supports himself by collecting recyclables.
The station says the Community Youth Center of San Francisco is supporting him. The group describes him as nonplussed by the incident and that he continues to collect cans in the same neighborhood where the attack occurred.
“I think all of us, myself included, were really heartbroken first — and feeling really hurt and saddened that somebody who was really struggling to make ends meet and trying to do what he can to move his life forward was hurt in such a way,” said Lai Wa Wu from the Chinese Progressive Association, to CBS5.
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