San Francisco street renamed after anti-Asian attack victim: Report

Vicha Ratanapakdee Death: Vicha Ratanapakdee, who had moved to US from Thailand, was walking in the Anza Vista neighborhood on the morning of January 28 last year when he was attacked.

A street in San Francisco has been renamed after a 84-year-old man who died in a “senseless” anti-Asian hate attack last year, CNN reported. The Sonora Lane is being renamed “Vicha Ratanapakdee Lane”.

Vicha Ratanapakdee Death:  Flowers are left with pictures of 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee during a rally attended by hundreds of people in San Francisco. (AP)

Vicha Ratanapakdee, who had moved to US from Thailand, was walking in the Anza Vista neighborhood on the morning of January 28 last year when a man violently shoved him to the ground. Vicha Ratanapakdee never regained consciousness after the assault.

The attack, which was captured in CCTV footage, was one of numerous assaults against Asian Americans reported across US in recent years. It caused public outrage in San Fransciso prompted artists to paint murals and portraits of Vicha Ratanapakdee.

“This horrific incident was one of several senseless attacks against members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community here in the San Francisco — our friends and neighbors should not have to fear the unthinkable when they walk our streets,” Catherine Stefani, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors told CNN.

A 19-year-old man has been accused of murder and elder abuse after the assault, the report further said.