San Francisco murals celebrating Asian culture have been defaced by a man on multiple occasions.
CCTV footage shows the man on 8 May walking through Jack Kerouac Alley, which is located between Chinatown and North Beach. He then proceeds to draw a pen from a beg and using it to deface the murals.
On 12 April, the man was also seen writing “Loose Lee” and “I’ll be back” on a mural of Bruce Lee.
San Francisco artist MaCannaYo deplored the man’s actions.
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” said MaCannaYo. “This is a very strong community. It’s the oldest Chinatown in the United States, and you have no right to deface symbolic symbols like Bruce Lee, and Cai Shen, the god of wealth and prosperity.”
The artist has used her own funds to clean the graffiti but requires more funds to restore the work. She has since created a GoFundMe page to support the process.
“It’s very shocking that after all the work and the beautification that a lot of business owners are putting into their business, we continue to see crime – laundry shops being broken into, glasses being broken, people being attacked,” she added.
“We’re prioritizing the tools that we have, the legal tools, the ability and power and influence we have to defend and support and uplift civil rights,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta, who launched the Racial Justice Bureau within the State Department.
“We’re making sure that our school climates are fair and it’s safe and supportive, making sure that in the middle of this horrific hate crimes crisis, when it comes to the API community, that we’re stepping in and stepping up to help to prevent and educate on the front end.”
There has been a recent rise in attacks against Asians including charges against the man who spat at and punched an 83-year-old Korean grandmother have been dropped.
Elsewhere, the president of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce was racially abused and physically attacked. The suspect has since been arrested.
Additionally, three people were arrested for a burglary spree targeting 26 Asian business owners in Colorado and Wyoming in 2019.
An Asian father was also attacked in San Francisco whilst walking his 1-year-old child and an Asian American teen was left concussed after being punched at a basketball game in Oakland.
In San Francisco, an 85-year-old Asian grandmother and a 65-year-old Asian woman were stabbed whilst waiting for the bus.
An Asian shop owner was also punched in the face by a racist customer in Washington DC.
