Elderly Filipina Woman Attacked on San Diego Trolley

An elderly Filipina was attacked on a San Diego trolley last Monday, ABC 10 San Diego reports.

Multiple sources told ABC 10 San Diego that an unidentified man punched an elderly Filipino woman on a trolley for seemingly no reason at all. The woman was taken to a local hospital to be treated, Yahoo News reports.

San Diego Police said Tuesday that they had arrested a suspect on charges of assault with a deadly weapon with an elder abuse enhancement, ABC 10 San Diego reports. They believe that the attack was an isolated incident and are not investigating it as a hate crime.

JoAnn Fields, a community advocate and director of the Filipino Resource Center, told ABC 10 San Diego that she was angry and sad for the woman. Fields believes that the anti-Asian rhetoric of the Trump administration during the pandemic has contributed to an increase in attacks on the Asian American community.

STOP AAPI Hate, recorded 2,800 incidents of anti-Asian hate from March 2020 to December 2020, according to USA Today. Over the past few weeks elderly Asian Americans have been violently attacked throughout California.

“To see this trend, awful trend, happening throughout the United States should put us on alert,” Fields said.

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