A new wave of anti-Asian assaults in San Francisco targets young Asian women who were dragged by their hair

SAN FRANCISCO — A new wave of anti-Asian violence has emerged in the city of San Francisco and targeted young Asian women in the populated Asian neighborhoods including Rincon Hill and the area surrounding Stonestown Galleria shopping mall. Victims were dragged by their hair and assaulted by mostly young African American male and female suspects.

The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD)'s newly expanded Real-Time Investigation Center (RTIC) had coordinated with police officers stationed at various units citywide and was able to assist making three arrests related to one of those violent attacks on two Chinese American female teenagers occurring on July 26.

Voters of San Francisco in March 2024 passed Proposition E which allowed SFPD to expand its use of technology to enhance public safety, combat crime, and be more efficient amid ongoing staffing shortages. The SFPD launched the Real-Time Investigation Center located at the Hall of Justice in 2024.

The center was moved into a new facility at the San Francisco Downtown under Mayor Daniel Lurie who announced in June that $9.4 million donations were received to further expand the facility equipped with modern technology and tools to assist police officers in the field to fight crimes.

The July 26 assaults occurred at approximately 2:54 p.m. on the 100 block of 4th Street outside the Metreon shopping center at Mission Street. It was a Saturday afternoon.

Sources told Wind Newspaper that two victims in the assaults were both Chinese American teenage girls at the age of around 14. They were walking on the street and attacked unprovoked by several African American young female suspects. Both victims were dragged by their hair after they got assaulted and fell on the ground.

According to the information released by the SFPD, bystanders around the Metreon Center stepped in to stop the attack, which caused the suspects to flee the scene on foot.

Sources said the female suspects then took the bus to Stonestown Galleria. The SFPD deployed drones monitored by the officers at the Real-Time Investigation Center following the suspects to Stonestown shopping mall. The officers at Taraval Police Station were able to make the arrests after the suspects got off the bus.

Three female suspects, who are aged 11, 13, and 14, were African Americans and detained at the scene in the Stonestown shopping center area. The older two suspects were later arrested and released at the scene.

The officers detained the females and through the course of the investigation developed probable cause to arrest a 13-year-old female and a 14-year-old female, who were cited and released at the scene for assault likely to produce great bodily injury (245(a)(4) PC), according to the SFPD.

The 11-year-old juvenile female was detained and admonished in compliance with state law. Officers consulted with Juvenile Probation, in compliance with SFPD policy, which advised that the suspects be released to their parents at the scene, SFPD said.

“Violent attacks like these will never be tolerated, and the SFPD will use all resources available to ensure our city is safe,” Interim Police Chief Paul Yep said. “I am extremely disappointed in the actions of these individuals, and they will be held accountable.”

“Thank you to the SFPD for their swift action and coordination in making these arrests over the weekend. Acts like these have no place in San Francisco, and I commend our officers for their hard work,” Mayor Lurie said.

Yep said the SFPD is currently investigating at least five apparent unprovoked attacks that began in July involving a group of juveniles with similar suspect descriptions.

Two female suspects, who are aged 13 and 14, in the July 26 incident were not charged with hate crime. Yep said the SFPD is looking into the connections between those five similar incidents and there has been no evidence to prove that the suspects had used racial slurs against victims under the definition of the hate crime law.

Among five incidents which were reported to the SFPD, three separate attacks occurred at the Stonestown Galleria area, one in the Rincon Hill neighborhood and one at the Metreon Center area on July 26. The victims in two of the three attacks at the Stonestown Galleria area were white.

However, residents and workers in the Rincon Hill neighborhood have heard of the anti-Asian attacks against young Asian women professionals since early July. Some young Asian women were afraid of the situation and moved out of the neighborhood.

A friend of a victim, who was assaulted in Rincon Hill on July 18, shared the information with Wind Newspaper about how the violent attack happened on her friend.

Both the friend and the victim are Chinese American women and young professionals in their 30s living in the Rincon Hill neighborhood. They did not want their names to be published.

According to the information provided by the friend, the victim was walking alone on the street near Folsom and Main streets close to a supermarket in the neighborhood on July 18, which was a Friday afternoon. The victim was first grabbed hair from behind by an African American male who was with a group of young people. She was then dragged to the ground by her hair and assaulted.

During the assault on July 18, the African American male suspect yelled at the victim with racial slurs against her Chinese ethnicity.

The victim did not call police or either file a police report after the incident. She felt that the Police Department would not take much action in her case if the suspect ran away. She told her friends and found out that neighbors were aware of the latest anti-Asian attacks targeting young Asian women in Rincon Hill.

The friend of the victim who spoke to Wind Newspaper wanted to alert the community about the latest violence against young Asian women. "Rincon Hill is supposed to be a very safe neighborhood. We have never expected attacks like these would happen. We don't feel safe here," the friend said.

Yep urged all crime victims to report to the police and provide information which was very helpful to keep the city safe for everyone.

Rincon Hill is a newly-developed small residential neighborhood in San Francisco in recent decades with modern high rise apartment buildings close to the Downtown and the Bay. It has also become a new neighborhood with a high concentration of Asian residents, followed by white residents.

Niche data indicates that among the 10,000 residents in Rincon Hill, Asians make up 56% of the population, while white residents account for 32%. Other groups include Hispanic (4%), two or more races (4%), and African American (3%). 40% of residents are 25-34 years old and 26% are aged 35-44.

Asian community members are pleased to see the quick actions by the SFPD for making the arrests. They were also concerned that the violence would not stop and more Asians would be victimized if the suspects were juveniles who could be repeatedly released at the scene by police officers after committing the crimes under the current law.