On Wednesday (March 17), an elderly Asian woman sent her alleged attacker to the hospital after she was assaulted on Market Street in San Francisco, California.
Xiao Zhen Xie spoke to KPIX 5 about the attack and said she was waiting at a traffic light when the man suddenly punched her in her left eye. The 75-year-old said the attack was completely unprovoked and she is still shaken up about it. “Very traumatized, very scared and this eye is still bleeding,” her daughter, Dong-Mei Li, told the outlet. “The right eye still cannot see anything and [is] still bleeding and we have something to absorb the bleeding.”
Xie said her first instinct was to defend herself. Her daughter said that she picked up a nearby stick and started to beat the man with it. The man had to leave the scene with a bloody face as he was handcuffed to a stretcher.
This attack is the latest in a string of violent incidents against members of the Asian community. Earlier this week, Robert Aaron Long shot and killed eight people in the Atlanta area. Six of his victims were Asian women. He has been charged with eight counts of murder and is currently behind bars with no bond.
Several celebrities, including Rihanna, LeBron James, Pharrell and Janet Jackson, have since called for an end to anti-Asian violence. “We must protect our Asian brothers and sisters,” wrote Pharrell. “My thoughts and prayers are with the families who lost their wives, sisters, daughters to this senseless act of hatred. Stop Asian Hate now.”
Xie’s family has set up a GoFundMe account to help with her medical expenses. “We want to thank everyone that is donating and that has shown my family massive support through this very traumatic event,” read the fundraising page. “My heart is with all the other elderly Asians that have also been seriously injured or killed in this wave of attacks towards the Asian community.”
If you would like to donate, click here.