An Asian grandmother, who was hit by a white man and bravely fought back by hitting him with a board, has said that she will donate the almost $1 million collected for her, to prevent racism against the Asian American community.
Xiao Zhen Xie, the 75-year old woman, of Chinese descent has asked her grandson John Chen to donate the money raised on her GoFundMe page.
Last Wednesday, Xie was attacked when she was on San Francisco’s Market Street. She was waiting to cross the road when somebody suddenly punched her on the face. San Francisco Police say the suspect, who was identified as Steven Jenkins, hit her after he had already assaulted an 83-year old man, also of Asian descent. He was being chased by a security guard just before he hit Xie.
Just came upon an attack on an elderly Asian woman on Market Street San Francisco. Effort I got more details pic.twitter.com/5o8r0eeHE2
— Dennis O'Donnell (@DennisKPIX) March 17, 2021
Her family told TV station KPIX that her immediate instinct was to fight back. She grabbed a wooden board and hit her assailant. He was left with a bloody nose. The 39-year old has been charged with assault and elder abuse.
The security guard restrained Jenkins up to the time the police arrived. Local sports journalist Dennis O’Donnell from TV station KPIX had been passing by and recorded the scene.
The footage shows a clearly upset Xie, holding an ice pack to her face. In one frame she takes a wooden board from her shopping trolley and gestures at Jenkins. He is handcuffed to a stretcher.
Chen had set up a GoFundMe page for his grandmother. He said that she had two black eyes, one of which was bleeding continuously. He said that she also suffers from diabetes and was a cancer survivor.
An elderly woman attacked on Market St. in San Francisco Wednesday and turned the tables on her attacker, leaving him with injuries that required a trip to the hospital. Serves him right! #StopAsianHate #StopAAPIHate
🎥 @denniskpix @kpixtv pic.twitter.com/o236bsUD0B
— Sheena Yap Chan (@sheenayapchan) March 17, 2021
On Tuesday he updated the page saying that his grandmother Xie was feeling better and that she had insisted that the money raised should be donated to causes that defuse racism against the Asian American community. He said that she also insisted that people must not submit to racism.
The man who was attacked before her was a Vietnamese immigrant. He suffered head and neck injuries and was recently discharged from the hospital. He received almost $300,000 in his GoFundMe page. He thanked those who supported him and said, “I survived concentration camp for 17 years in Vietnam right after the war, and I am going to get through this.”
