By Natalie Sandoval
Antoine Watson was found guilty in January of involuntary manslaughter and assault in the 2021 death of 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee.
San Francisco Judge Linda Colfax sentenced Watson to eight years in prison Thursday, but suspended the entire sentence with five years’ credit for time served in pre-trial detention, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Colfax then released Watson on probation.
“I think both Mr. Watson and public safety would be served were Mr. Watson on probation rather than parole,” Colfax said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Colfax reportedly added that she thought imprisonment would probably have a “poor impact” on Watson.
Ratanapakdee’s death sparked the short-lived “Stop Asian Hate” movement. The media, along with plenty of Asian advocates, attempted to pin the violent assaults of Asians on white supremacy. That narrative fell apart when security cameras captured ample instances of young black men attacking elderly Asians. Watson, for instance, is black. (RELATED: Asians In Blue Stronghold Fled The Democratic Party In Droves — And Crime Is The Biggest Reason Why)
With Black Lives Matter in full swing, the messaging proved too contradictory, and Stop Asian Hate faded into a whisper.
Surveillance footage shows a man identified as Watson sprinting across the street to shove Ratanapakdee to the ground. Watson slams Ratanapakdee into the pavement. The old man remains there, lying very still, as Watson storms away.
“Why are you looking at me?” witnesses heard Watson shout at Ratanapakdee before the attack, according to The Voice of San Francisco.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 22: People hold signs during a rally in solidarity with Asian hate crime victims outside of the San Francisco Hall of Justice on March 22, 2021 in San Francisco, California. Hundreds of people rallied in support of the family of Vichar Ratanapakdee, a Thai immigrant who died following an assault in downtown San Francisco. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Ratanapakdee reportedly fell into a coma and died two days after the attack.
Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan decried Watson’s lenient punishment, saying, “Asian Americans of SF need to stand up and fight.”
“The system just told every Asian elder in America: your life is negotiable,” said Forrest Liu, a Stop Asian Hate activist, according to ABC 7 Eyewitness News.
As with many supposed hate crimes, there’s no evidence that Watson’s attack was racially motivated. There is a more probable, and more uncomfortable, explanation: Watson is an uncivilized beast. Maybe he was bored, or he slept poorly the night before. So he killed someone.
In fact, Watson chalked up his motivations to being “angry after a bad day,” according to ABC 7. (RELATED: Illegal Alien Charged With Murder After Allegedly Shoving Elderly Veteran Onto Subway Tracks)
Watson’s public defenders claimed Watson did not intend to kill Ratanapakdee. They argued the assault was “an impulsive act during an emotional storm,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Chesa Boudin, former San Francisco District Attorney, said Watson was in the throes of “some sort of a temper tantrum,” according to The New York Times. Maybe so. But such a lack of self-control would certainly merit Watson being sequestered from the public, forever.
