The family of a 76-year-old Chinese woman who fought after being punched in the face in an unprovoked attack in San Francisco said on Monday that she was recovering from her injuries and would donate the $ 900,000 raised on a GoFundMe page. to “fight racism. ”(The stated goal of the page was $ 50,000.)
“Her eye is no longer swollen to the point that I can’t open it. She is now starting to feel optimistic again and in a better mood, ”wrote Xiao Zhen Xie’s grandchildren on Monday on the GoFundMe page, which had originally been created to cover the woman’s medical expenses. “She said that we shouldn’t [submit] to racism and we must fight to the death, if necessary. “
The March 17 attack attracted national attention amid a series of racially motivated incidents against Americans of Asian origin.
San Francisco police identified the suspect in the attack as Steven Jenkins, 39. According to local television station KPIX, Xie, 76, was leaning against a pole waiting for the signal when Jenkins punched her. Witnesses say Xie responded by taking a piece of wood he found on the street and hitting his attacker with him, shouting, “You bum, why did you hit me?” in Chinese, according to USA Today.
The video of the scene showed Jenkins handcuffed on a stretcher with a bloody face. Xie applied an ice pack to the black eyes she held.
Police say Jenkins was the perpetrator of a separate elderly attack on an 83-year-old Vietnamese man, Ngoc Pham, who was shopping in the area. Pham suffered cuts, bruises and a broken nose.
Jenkins was charged with two counts of assault with a likelihood of producing major bodily injuries and two counts of abuse of the elderly. San Francisco police said they were investigating the attacks to determine whether they were racially motivated.
According to his family, Xie suffered from PTSD due to the traumatic event, but “repeatedly stated” that he wants to donate the funds “to the Asian American community to combat racism”
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