Antoine Watson, convicted of killing 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee in a 2021 attack caught on video, walked free from a San Francisco courtroom this week after California's pretrial credit math converted five years of detention into enough "time served" to exceed his four-year involuntary manslaughter cap entirely. The case is one of several recent flashpoints exposing how San Francisco's criminal justice system is failing Asian American victims—from a broad-daylight Chinatown stabbing two days before Lunar New Year to a civil lawsuit alleging state parole officials told agents to stop looking for violations before a parolee killed two women, including 27-year-old Hanako Abe. In Sacramento, the fight over who gets protected under the law is also intensifying, with ACA-7 advancing on a party-line vote to strip Prop 209's anti-discrimination protections from California's K-12 schools.
Video shows Watson running full-speed into 84-year-old Vicha. He walks after 5 years. This is progressive justice.
Antoine Watson shoved an 84-year-old to his death, photographed the body, and got involuntary manslaughter. Welcome to San Francisco.
A woman connected to killing an Asian senior is about to dodge trial while BART attackers walk free. January 12 is the test.