Daughter of Vicha, symbol of anti-Asian hate rallies, says verdict not true justice

The daughter of Vicha Ratanapakdee, who was killed after being knocked to the ground by a 24-year-old man in San Francisco in 2021, said the verdict did not bring justice for her father.

Monthanus Ratanapakdee wrote on her Facebook, “The verdict today did not bring justice for Vicha.”

A jury on Thursday found Antoine Watson not guilty of murder in the January 2021 attack on Vicha, who was 84 at the time. Instead, jurors convicted him of the lesser charges of involuntary manslaughter and assault.

Vicha’s death ignited a national movement against anti-Asian American violence across the United States.

The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, led by Brooke Jenkins, declined to comment while the jury remains empaneled.

Jurors are scheduled to return on January 26 to hear arguments on aggravating factors. Sentencing will be set after that process is completed, the office said.

Vicha was on his regular morning walk in the quiet neighborhood where he lived with his wife, daughter, and her family when Watson suddenly ran at him and knocked him to the ground.

The attack was captured on a neighbor’s security camera. He never regained consciousness and died two days later.

His family believes he was targeted because of his race, but prosecutors did not file hate crime charges, and the issue was not argued at trial.

Authorities have said hate crimes are difficult to prove without explicit statements from a suspect.

In January 2026, Watson testified that he was in a state of confusion and anger during the unprovoked attack. He said he lashed out and did not realize that Vicha was Asian or elderly.

“I remember a person just staring at me, and I remember just running at him and pushing him,” Watson said. “I thought he was judging me, too, like Malaysia was judging me.”

“In that moment, I wasn’t thinking,” he added.

San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju, whose office represented Watson, expressed sympathy to the victim’s family and said the defendant is “fully remorseful for his mistake.”

“While this death was a terrible tragedy and has garnered significant public attention, our legal system allows us to examine the facts in a balanced way,” Raju said.

Vicha’s death became a rallying point for Asian American communities nationwide.

In 2022, hundreds of people in five U.S. cities marked the anniversary of his killing while calling for justice amid a surge in anti-Asian harassment and violence during the pandemic.