Asian elder’s assault inflames S.F. politics
A woman accused of assaulting a 71-year-old Cantonese-speaking woman in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood appeared in court Thursday in a case that has inflamed City Hall, provoking a fierce fight between the district attorney and Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin.
Thea Hopkins, 43, pleaded not guilty to one count of elder abuse and one count of assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury in connection with a March 4 attack near an elementary school on Gilman Avenue. According to prosecutors, Hopkins approached the woman from behind, pulled her hair, punched her and threw her to the ground.
The victim, identified in court as Ruie S., testified that she was on a morning walk from her home to Gilman Park when she suddenly felt a blow land on the back of her neck. When she turned around, she said, the assailant grabbed her by the collar, shoved her against a tree and hit her face three times before she passed out.
The victim later received medical treatment for a neck injury, swollen face and other wounds.
“Do you see the person that attacked you that day in the courtroom?” asked Negad Zaky, the prosecutor in the case.
“I do,” the woman responded in Cantonese. “She’s sitting in the middle wearing orange,” referring to Hopkins, who sat in an orange jumpsuit between her attorneys.
At one point during Thursday’s hearing, Hopkins broke down in tears and her attorney handed her a tissue.
Erin Morgan, the deputy public defender who represents Hopkins, said the office was assessing her state of mind at the time of the March incident. She argued Thursday that the incident was a result of “misperception” and “difficulties with communication” because Hopkins speaks English and the victim Cantonese.
Public defenders described Hopkins as “vulnerable,” saying that she survived a life of poverty, violence and trauma before landing in a highprofile assault case.
News reports and social media posts have linked Hopkins to another incident last July, in which a person pushed a 63-year-old Chinese immigrant onto a Bayview sidewalk. The victim in that instance, Yanfang Wu, died two days later in a hospital. Police ruled the death an accident and never publicly released the name of a person of interest. Wu’s husband moved back to China after his wife died.
This month, police reopened the investigation they had closed in August, citing new evidence. Amid mounting outcry from the Asian American community, Mayor London Breed and Police Chief Bill Scott pledged to release surveillance video of the episode once they have completed their review and ensured that public reactions to the footage will not interfere with any potential prosecution.
Such assurances were not sufficient for Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, who introduced a resolution Tuesday urging the Police Department and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins to release not only the video but also details about the investigation into Wu’s death.
“This resolution is consistent with efforts to build trust in the criminal justice system, as well as improve services to victims and survivors,” Peskin said when he put forward the nonbinding legislation at Tuesday’s meeting with co-sponsors Supervisor Connie Chan and Supervisor Shamann Walton.
Jenkins fired back Wednesday in a series of posts on the social media site X, where she criticized Peskin for showing “his ignorance and complete lack of understanding of how the criminal justice system works.” Noting that “no case was submitted to my office for charging (or) discharging,” Jenkins said she should not be the focus of Peskin’s resolution or his demands for transparency.
Jenkins also accused Peskin of “looking for fodder (and) attention prior to his expected mayor campaign,” intimating that he crafted the resolution to create political theater.
“That was unhinged,” Peskin said, responding to Jenkins’ diatribe in an interview Thursday. He denied that the resolution was politically motivated and said it harks to a similar resolution he made last year, calling for the release of video after a Walgreens security guard fatally shot a Black trans man, Banko Brown, on Market Street.
“I may be retiring from politics, I may be running for office — I’m not decided,” Peskin said, referring to Jenkins’ allusions to his expected bid for mayor. “That doesn’t color what I do.”
Prosecutors argued that Hopkins posed a safety risk to the public, pointing to Hopkins’ 2014 assault conviction and other incidents that did not result in a conviction. Judge Josh Fredericks cut the prosecutor off and said he would not consider any incidents in which charges weren’t brought.
Fredericks ordered Hopkins detained without bail on Thursday, denying the defense’s motion for her to be released. He also found there was sufficient evidence for the case to proceed to trial.
“I think this is an extremely heinous situation,” the judge said, adding that the victim had been attacked for seemingly no reason.
The victim is recovering under the care of her daughter, who is a homecare worker, according to Community Youth Center, a nonprofit that serves Asian victims of crime. Michelle Wu, a spokesperson for the nonprofit, said the victim is receiving financial help covering traditional Chinese medicine bills to aid her recovery.
“Incidents like this are a stark reminder that violence prevention and public safety remain a top priority for the community,” Wu said.