Stick-wielding old Asian lady fights back against unprovoked attack — puts her attacker in a stretcher

In what witnesses say was an unprovoked attack this Wednesday in California, an elderly Chinese woman fought back against her attacker and sent him on a trip to the hospital.

According to local news reports, the incident took place on Market St. in downtown San Francisco where witnesses saw the woman pummeling a man. In a video circulating social media, the woman can be seen yelling at the man and talking to the crowd in Taishanese while icing her left eye which appears to be swollen. She then picks up a wooden plank, presumably the tool she used to defend herself against the man.

The man can be seen looking dazed and bloodied in a stretcher as paramedics prepare to load him into the ambulance.

“You bum! Why did you hit me?” she says.

“This bum. He bullied me,” the woman tells the crowd before she’s briefly overcome with emotion.

https://twitter.com/DennisKPIX/status/1372241168663076864

The woman, identified as 76-year-old Xiao Zhen Xie, was reportedly leaning against a light pole when the man punched her without provocation.

KPIX Sports Director Dennis O’Donnell came upon the scene while jogging and said that the woman “said she was hit.”

“She attacked back. From what I could see, she wanted more of the guy on the stretcher and the police were holding her back,” he said.

Speaking to KPIX the day after the incident and using her daughter Dong-Mei Li as an interpreter, Xie said that after being struck by the man, her first instinct was to fight back.

“She found the stick around the area and fought back,” Li said.

“As you can see she is extremely terrified,” Xie’s grandson John Chen told KPIX. “She’s terrified to even step out.”

Xie’s family has set up a GoFundMe account to help with her medical expenses. As of this writing, it has raised just over $164,000.

“Hi everyone, I am fundraising for my grandmother that was racially attacked today on 3-17-21 market street,” Chen wrote in the fundraiser’s bio. “I am amazed by her bravery. She was the one that defended herself from this unprovoked attack. But she is now suffering two serious black eyes and one that is bleeding unstoppably. Her wrist has also swelled up. She has been severely affected mentally, physically, and emotionally.”

Watch KPIX’s report on the story below:

[This article has been updated]

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Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.