By Becky Chan
Northwest Asian Weekly
The Stewart and 9th bus stop where a woman suffered a concussion from a beating by a fellow bus rider who refused to wear a mask. (Photo by Becky Chan)
Smack! Judy (an alias) felt the sting on her wrist as if she’d been caught misbehaving. The source of her pain came from a fellow female passenger, who had just boarded the bus without a mask and was admonished by the bus driver to wear one. The passenger mumbled as she grabbed the mask and plopped onto a seat near where Judy was standing. She then stood up and began the assault.
It was July 21, around 9 a.m., prime rush hour in South Lake Union. The King County Metro (KCM) Route 70 bus crawled along Fairview Avenue, exchanging young tech workers for others heading towards downtown. Judy, a caretaker, was on her way to see an elderly client near Pike Place Market. She stood near the back door.
“I think she was angry about having to wear a mask and saw that I was Asian,” said Judy in rapid, heavily accented Cantonese. “She first hit my wrist, then hurled her bagful of cans and metal at me. I almost fell over, if it weren’t for this couple who propped me up with their hands.”
Fearing for her safety, Judy jumped off the bus when it stopped at Stewart and Ninth, losing a shoe, her hat, and leaving behind a bag of clothing she’d planned to donate. The assailant, a Black woman who was about 40, 5’7”, and 140 pounds, chased after Judy, 59, 5 feet tall, and 115 pounds. She pelted Judy with her fists and swung her bag at Judy’s head. Judy cowered in terror behind a man at the bus stop. The man spread his arms out like a cross, protecting Judy. Still, the attack continued. Only when the man said something did the attacker stop. She then sauntered off.
Judy got back on the same bus.
“Are you okay?” the bus driver asked.
Dizzy, shocked, and not fluent in English, Judy couldn’t respond. She called her daughter Elaine (an alias), then broke down in sobs.
A fellow Asian female passenger comforted Judy in Mandarin and asked Elaine on the phone, “Do you need 9-1-1?”
It’s unclear who called 9-1-1.
The bus driver could have called on the radio. Each KCM bus is also equipped with an emergency button that the driver can activate with a foot to alert the main terminal surreptitiously. Drivers are trained neither to intervene directly nor touch anyone during a dispute. However, he or she can encourage the disrupting parties to get off the bus and open the doors to allow other passengers wishing to alight.
After the phone call, Elaine ran a few blocks from their apartment to the Stewart Street stop. Two King County deputies were at the scene. They couldn’t communicate with Judy before Elaine arrived, so they spoke with the bus driver.
By then, the Mandarin-speaking good Samaritan had disappeared.
Before she got on the ambulance with her mom, Elaine recalled, “One of the [deputies] told me, ‘Things like this happen all the time. We just had a similar case this morning. There’s not much we can do.’”
At the hospital, Judy was diagnosed with a concussion.
“I really don’t understand why this happened to my mom. She is hardworking, kind, and generous,” said Elaine. “Even when we were at our poorest, she still managed to donate to those in need. We’re Christians!”
In 2008, Judy immigrated to the U.S. with her then-husband and two young daughters from Guangdong, China, to be close to her sister living in Seattle.
Because of the language challenge, Judy worked in various restaurants before becoming a caregiver to Chinese clients. In China, she worked in human resources, finance, and accounting. In 2007, before her move to the U.S., Judy was in a car accident that left her weak. She also suffers from depression due to her divorce, according to Elaine.
The assault exacerbated Judy’s condition. She now has headaches, dizziness, and soreness on her head and most of her left side. She suffers from insomnia and hallucinates often that someone is approaching her. She fears for her safety.
The day after the incident, Judy wanted to check on a 96-year-old client, the only one she retained while recovering. Elaine had to accompany her.
“My mom likes to care for others. Now she can’t even care for herself,” said Elaine.
Elaine worries about leaving her mom alone. She attends college out of state and will return to school soon for her last year. She hopes for a future in tech upon graduation.
“My sister lives in Renton and is pregnant, and I’m going to be gone. We can’t be here to protect her every day. It’s hard for us to trust that the police will take action to protect her in the future given what happened,” said Elaine.
With a rise in Asian hate crimes following the COVID-19 pandemic, Elaine, using her mom’s case as a catalyst, pleads for Seattle’s politicians to help voice the Asian community’s concern and enact preventive measures to protect the safety of Asian Americans.
King County Sheriff’s Office has assigned Detective Joshua Lamothe to investigate Judy’s case. Should there be probable cause that warrants further action, it will be presented to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for consideration.
Judy and Elaine have retained an attorney from the Herrmann Law Group to represent them.
Becky can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.