An Asian American man who was beaten with a bat has sued San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, claiming the prosecutor violated his rights as a crime victim while giving the convicted attacker a “slap-on-the-wrist” plea agreement.
An emotional Anh Le, 69, said he was walking in Chinatown in November 2019 when a father-son duo attacked him with a baseball bat and a glass bottle, threatening to kill him. But the father was allowed to plead to misdemeanor battery with no hate crime enhancement and received a year of probation.
“The attack was the most brutal, terrifying and humiliating experience of my life and has stayed with me ever since,” Mr. Le said Tuesday at a press conference held by the Alliance for Asian American Justice.
The lawsuit filed against the city and Mr. Boudin seeks declarations that Mr. Le’s rights were violated as well as stronger protections for Asian American victims of hate crimes. Mr. Le also plans to pursue a civil case against Jimmy Tanner, the adult named in the attack, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
“The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office allowed the adult male attacker to plead to a misdemeanor with one year probation, restitution to the victim and [a] criminal protective order,” said Mr. Le. “They did this without consulting me, without any input from me at all, and in violation of my rights as a victim.”
Mr. Boudin’s office released a statement defending its record, saying that “DA Boudin has been a steadfast advocate for improved victim services and support for the AAPI [Asian American Pacific Islander] community,” including presiding over a “historic expansion” of victims’ services.
I applaud the bravery of Mr. Le in the face of two injustices: the first by his attacker and the second by the SF DA’s office. It’s time Chesa Boudin’s treatment of the AAPI community is called to account, but don’t take my word for it, take Mr. Le’s:https://t.co/6sP8YeRELe https://t.co/o21u9C9pa2
— Daniel Dae Kim (@danieldaekim) January 26, 2022
Elected in 2018, the progressive prosecutor has been accused of making the city more dangerous by refusing to prosecute what he describes as “quality-of-life crimes,” such as prostitution, public camping and public urination, in an effort to end “mass incarceration.”
A former defense attorney, Mr. Boudin faces a recall election on June 7.
His office announced Tuesday the formation of an AAPI Elder Abuse Steering Committee, which coincided with the release of San Francisco police preliminary figures showing that hate crimes against Asian Americans skyrocketed from nine in 2020 to 60 in 2021.
“That’s only people that are reporting those crimes. I know that there are a number of people that are not reporting those crimes,” San Francisco Mayor London Breed said Tuesday at a press conference in Chinatown.
Mr. Le said it did not appear that Mr. Tanner’s adolescent son was charged. The public defender for Mr. Tanner denied that he attacked Mr. Le and said that his son struck him with a plastic bat, according to the Chronicle.
The lawsuit said Mr. Le’s attacker was given a “very lenient plea deal” while the victim suffered “callous and cavalier” treatment at the hands of Mr. Boudin’s office.
For example, the office issued a protective order that botched Mr. Le’s name and misstated his age, raising questions about the order’s enforceability, then refused for months to correct it despite the victim’s repeated requests.
“In sum, despite claiming on its website that ‘the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office works to empower survivors of crime,’ in reality, the DA’s office has not only failed to empower or protect Mr. Le, but actually exacerbated and further compounded the trauma and indignities he suffered at the hands of the Tanners,” the lawsuit said.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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