Her family says that a 75-year-old Asian woman who is attacked on the street receives almost $1 million from her medical bill and uses it to fight racism.
After Xiao Zhen Xie had been punched in front of the police at an unprovoked attack in San Francisco on March 17, she punched herself back. Xie said in a video taken following the CNN affiliate KPIX attack: “He bullies old people.” “So I gave a punch.”
Following the attack, Xie suffered two dark eyes, a swollen wrist and post-traumatic stress disorder. According to the GoFundMe page, her family had established to collect money for medical bills. According to Xie.
Within a week of the attack, the GoFundMe raised over $930,000. The initial objective was $50,000. Now, according to the online fundraiser, her family says that Xie wants the money to go to the Asian American community to fight racism.
The page also says that Xie has improved mental and physical health. She’s “in better spirits” she can open her injured eye now.
A 39-year-old man had assaulted an 83-year-old Asian man and was being pursued by a security guard when he reached Xie, according to the San Francisco Police Department.
The defendant was arrested and transported to the San Francisco County Jail, where he was due in court later this month.
Investigators were “working to ascertain whether racism was a driving factor” after the assault, police said.
Following “an alarming spike in brazen anti-Asian violence in recent weeks” in the Bay Area, San Francisco police have increased patrols in predominantly Asian neighborhoods, according to the department. Anti-Asian attacks have increased dramatically across the United States during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the department.
