Asian community demands justice: the suspect in pushed-to-death Wu case only charged with battery and assault 18 months later

SAN FRANCISCO — The Asian community is outraged and demands justice again after the San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced on December 11, 2024 that two criminal charges were filed, one count of assault and one count of battery without manslaughter or murder, against an African American woman who was allegedly seen pushing 63-year-old Chinese immigrant woman Yan Fang Wu to death 18 months ago on July 3, 2023.

Wind Newspaper has learned from sources that the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) finished the second phase of the investigation in the pushed-to-death Wu case months earlier, the San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins did not file the charges until December 10, 2024 against 43-year-old Thea Hopkins, a suspect in the Wu death case occurred in 2023.

Jenkins was a candidate on the November 5, 2024 election running for re-election. She was successfully re-elected and the election results were certified on December 5, 2024.

Both the SFPD and the District Attorney’s Office determined to close the Wu case in 2023 by accepting Hopkins' argument that it was an accident when she ran to catch the T Third Line train on Third Street in Bayview and tripped falling onto Wu who died in the push two days later.

But the Asian community did not agree with the conclusion and believed it was an anti-Asian hate unprovoked attack.

Hopkins has been in jail since the March 4, 2024 attack on another Chinese woman victim who was 71 years old and assaulted from behind while she walked on Gilman Street in Bayview for a routine morning exercise.

Hopkins was in connection with both attacks on elderly Chinese immigrant women nine months apart that triggered the Asian community to demand SFPD reopen the Wu case for investigation.

Hopkins was first detained and later released in the first attack in 2023. San Francisco Superior Court records indicated that Hopkins was charged with battery and assault related to the Wu case on December 10, 2024, 18 months after the death.

Hopkins was arraigned in court at 1:30 pm on December 11, 2024. The District Attorney's Office did not announce the newly-filed charges until 4:47 pm on December 11, 2024.

Jenkins announced the charges by sending out a press release and posting on social media in both English and Chinese languages.

“I would also like to thank the public for their patience as the investigation unfolded and trust in my office to make an appropriate charging decision based on the facts and the law. My office will now do everything in our power to fight for justice in the courtroom and ensure that there is accountability in this case,” Jenkins wrote both in the press release and on social media X.

Once the charges were made public, members of the Asian community were in shock and questioned the appropriateness of those two charges which were too lenient for a defendant in a death case. They also questioned why it took 9 months for the DA’s Office to press charges after reopening the investigation and 18 months after Wu's death.

"It took you [Jenkins] a year and a half and you [Jenkins] couldn't file murder/manslaughter charges along with a hate crime? The victim was killed," wrote Ryan Khojasteh, who was a prosecutor and fired by Jenkins immediately after she was appointed by Mayor London Breed in July 2022 as interim District Attorney following the successful recall of Chesa Boudin.

Khojasteh was a candidate running against Jenkins and lost in the race in the November 2024 election. He joined the Asian community in March 2024 to demand SFPD and the DA's Office release more info related to the Wu case.

"Assault and battery are insufficient charges when someone has died. I am shocked by these low-level charges," Khojasteh said to Wind Newspaper. "Jenkins did not charge a hate crime when this was a repeated attack against an elderly Asian woman, and failed to charge manslaughter or murder. By all means, this already has been a failed prosecution that does not bring justice to the victim and her family."

"Jenkins and Chief Scott still have not released the video footage of the incident. What are they hiding?" Khojasteh added. "This is an outrage and Jenkins waiting until after the election to announce her charging decision was a clear attempt to avoid scrutiny and criticism from the AAPI community. It seems she only cares about optics when it's an election year. I hope the community remembers this failure when she tries to leave San Francisco to run for Attorney General."

Nancy Tung was named Chief of the Vulnerable Victims Unit and Community Partnerships at the District Attorney's Office when Jenkins took office in July 2022. She is also an elected Chair of the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee and was recently appointed by Mayor-Elect Daniel Lurie as his transition team’s one of the 7 co-chairs.

Members of the Asian community also question Tung's role and efforts in cases related to anti-Asian hate victims who have been mostly Asian elders. The Asian community agrees that Tung has been very active in the political community but not been in close contact with the community on crimes, especially on the Wu case which occurred in 2023.

"The Chinese community now has to suffer through four full years of Jenkins being the SF DA," said Henry Der, a prominent civil rights leader in the Chinese community for 50 years.

"One also has to wonder what Assistant District Attorney Nancy Tung is doing on her job? Isn't it her responsibility to head up community partnerships? Has she forgotten the Chinese community because she's so busy being in the political position as the Chair of the SF Democratic County Central Committee and now on the SF Mayor's Transition Committee?" Der added. "For all the hope that Chinese community members had in the Jenkins Administration, Chinese people might as well face the harsh reality that the community is being treated like an orphan by the DA."

Der was also vocal to demand the release of information in March 2024 related to the Wu case. He spoke publicly at the Board of Supervisors meeting to support Supervisor Aaron Peskin's resolution calling on SFPD and DA’s Office to re-review the Wu investigation.

"Upon her appointment as DA by Mayor Breed after the recall of former DA Chesa Boudin, Brooke Jenkins had claimed she would be accountable to the concerns of the Chinese community," Der was critical of Jenkins' decisions on handing anti-Asian attack cases. "From Day One of her appointment as DA, Jenkins has shamelessly played the Chinese community, coming often into Chinatown to take photos at events but not being responsive to the trauma suffered by Chinese victims once she got back into her office."

Der said the post-November election announcement of battery and assault charges against the suspect in the Wu case was highly suspicious. "As Jenkins had to know, any announcement before the November election would pierce the image that she had carefully built as a 'protector' of the Chinese community," said Der.

"If the suspect is brought to trial and a jury finds the suspect guilty as charged, it is small solace to the victim's husband so heartbroken that he decided to move back to China. He will never experience true justice in the tragic death of his wife," Der continued. "His moving back to China is no different from Vincent Chin's mother moving back to China when the U.S. justice system failed her in literally setting the two murderers of her son free."

"Without the benefit of reviewing all the investigatory notes taken by the SFPD and DA, it is challenging for community members to determine whether a hate crime was committed by the suspect against her two victims," Der was disappointed at the low level charges in the Wu case. "Even if there is no hard evidence of hate, the Chinese community has every right to lose confidence in both the SFPD and DA Jenkins for their utter lack of commitment in looking deeply at the patterns of crime against Chinese victims."

"Those two less severe charges of battery and assault against the suspect in connection with Ms. Wu's death are not only unexplainable and inexplicable, DA Jenkins has also made community members much more vulnerable to be victimized and more likely to die on the streets," said Robert Chiang, Presiding President of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA), with sadness.

"If someone pushed a person to the ground on the street who died as a result of the pushing, then the one who did it told policemen that it was an accident because he or she had just tripped," said Chiang. “How many people would die on the streets if the one who did it was allowed to get away from punishment? How could our life be protected? Why are those laws of manslaughter and murder written and defined in books to protect all of us?"

"If the suspect in the Wu case is charged with assault and battery and as a result of those criminal acts that led to the death of Ms. Wu, the suspect needs to face manslaughter or murder charge in court. Why did the SFPD and DA Jenkins let the suspect escape from it for 18 months? It is unacceptable," Chiang added.

"The very light charges in the high profile case of defendant Thea Hopkins is shocking and must be questioned," said Marlene Tran, a community leader who has been in volunteer safety work assisting seniors and non-English speaking crime victims in Visitacion Valley for over 3 decades.

"If this suspect is alleged to have other charges against her in addition to serious assaults against two Asian seniors that resulted in the death of Ms. Yanfang Wu. Why was she only charged for 'battery and assault' ?" said Tran.

"When this case is opened in court at the Hall of Justice, we urge the judges to demand a thorough investigation in order to render a more appropriate sentencing against this defendant. Otherwise, the hard fought momentum to gain justice for many of our API victims will be erased."

Wind Newspaper sent inquiries to both the SFPD and DA’s Office. SFPD refused to provide further information on the Wu case investigation and directed questions to the DA’s Office that filed charges in criminal proceedings.

"SFDA charging decisions are based on the facts and the law," the DA’s Office responded to the inquiry. "In this case, the San Francisco Police recently presented a warrant to this office after a lengthy investigation into the July 2023 incident. Our jurisdiction only begins after an arrest has been made or a warrant is presented. Both incidents have now been charged and are pending before the court."

"After careful review of all of the evidence presented, like we do in all cases, we filed the charges that we believe we can prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. We were unable to charge murder for the July 2023 incident because we did not have the evidence to show that there was an intent to kill or a conscious disregard for life, either of which is required to prove the charge of murder," the DA's Office wrote. "Similarly, we did not have evidence to prove that either incident was motivated by hate so could not ethically add hate crime enhancements."

"We do not release evidence in pending cases," the DA's Office responded to the community’s demand for releasing video footage related to the Wu case. "The evidence to support our charges against Ms. Hopkins in both incidents will be presented in open court at Ms. Hopkins preliminary hearing scheduled for December 20, 2024, in Department 20 at the Hall of Justice."

Wind Newspaper reached out to Nancy Tung for comments on her role as one of the Chiefs at the DA's Office overseeing the prosecution of cases related to elderly victims.

"I have been a prosecutor for nearly 24 years. I take my position as the Chief of the Vulnerable Victims Unit very seriously as both a manager of the attorneys in the unit and as a prosecutor that handles my own caseload," Tung responded.

"I'd ask that you [Wind Newspaper] identify the members of the Chinese community that say they have not heard from me or have concerns about how I manage my time so I can address them directly. To date, I can recall no one who has approached me - either in person, by phone, or in writing - with any such concern," Tung wrote in a responding email.