Daniel Dae Kim, Daniel Wu offer $25,000 for info in Oakland attack on elderly man
Actors Daniel Dae Kim and Daniel Wu are offering a $25,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of a person who violently attacked a 91-year-old man in Oakland’s Chinatown district.
Last week, Wu and Kim put out a request for tips regarding the person who was caught on camera Jan. 31 shoving the elderly man to the ground. According to ABC7, police say the suspect in the incident also attacked a 60-year-old man and 55-year-old woman the same day.
On Monday afternoon, Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong announced that 28-year-old Yahya Muslim has been arrested in connection with the attacks. According to CBS News, authorities charged Muslim with assault, battery, elder abuse and a special allegation of offenses.
“The number of hate crimes against Asian Americans continues to skyrocket, despite our repeated pleas for help,” Kim wrote Friday on Instagram. “The crimes are too often ignored and even excused. ... #EnoughisEnough. ...
“We must do more to help the literally thousands of Americans who have suffered at the hands of this absolutely senseless violence. Please help us bring this criminal to justice.”
The “Lost” and “Hawaii Five-0” star also called on his followers to “remember #VichaRatanapakdee” and “remember #VincentChin.”
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Ratanapakdee died last month at 84 after he was similarly assaulted while on his morning walk in San Francisco, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. And Chin, who was beaten to death in 1982, later became the subject of the Oscar-nominated 1987 documentary, “Who Killed Vincent Chin?,” which examined anti-Asian racism in America.
“I wasn’t going to post these but after seeing the comment from some of you who had no idea this was going on, I feel it’s important that people see this senseless s—,” Wu wrote Friday in his own post. “Vicha Ratanapakdee was minding his own business when he was brutally tackled and killed. ... it was an act of hate. If you see something like this or this happens to you report it! Call 911 immediately.”
“Crazy Rich Asians” and Marvel actress Gemma Chan also shared video of last month’s Chinatown attack in an effort to raise awareness around hate crimes against Asian Americans, which have surged amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Daniel Dae Kim, Lana Condor, Henry Golding, Celeste Ng and other celebrities are denouncing racism toward Asian Americans fueled by the coronavirus outbreak.
“This is difficult to watch but this is a plea for help,” Chan wrote Sunday on Instagram. “The community is in pain from these completely unprovoked attacks but the crimes are too often ignored and underreported. Imagine if this was your father or grandfather?”
Chan called for the attacks to be recognized as hate crimes. “The violence will only end when the silence ends,” she wrote.
Other Hollywood figures who spoke out about the attacks include Chan’s “Crazy Rich Asians” costars Henry Golding and Harry Shum Jr. as well as director Greg Pak, “Youth & Consequences” actress Anna Akana, “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” star Chloe Bennet and “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” star Simu Liu.
“I hope that these people understand that you will not get away with racially motivated, unprovoked attacks on the asian community,” Golding tweeted. “Justice will be served.”
“It is becoming alarmingly clear to me now that attacks against our elderly are not isolated incidents,” Liu wrote on Twitter. “It’s difficult to express my anger in a way that is palatable for the public, so I will just ask everyone to keep their loved ones safe and to look out for our senior citizens.”
Updates
3:20 p.m. Feb. 8, 2021: This article was updated with information about the arrest of a suspect.
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