as vicha's loved ones wait for watson's next court appearance on thursday, they express their gratitudeto know a clear truth. >> i hope my the asian community to be able to speak up. >> reporter: in san francisco dion lim, abc 7 news. >> if you're looking to take action on issues go to abc7news.com/takeaction to find your ally and a list of local resources. >>> an update tonight from the abc 7 news i-team. a san francisco college student accused of murdering an italian police officer testified today saying he thought the man was a drug dealer. 20-year-old finnegan elder said officer mario cherchalarega and his partner did not identify themselves as police officers on that fateful night in rome in 2019. here's elder in his own words describing what happened. >> they rushed us without saying a single word. the largest two of was a mountain of a man. he tackled me to the ground and put all his weight on top of me. i was lying with my back on the asphalt. i remember little of the next few moments except for the feelings of shock and terror. i do remember, however, that i could feel his hand

the man charged with pushing down 84-year-old vicha in front of san francisco home is expected in court this morning at 9:00 a.m. this is for a pretrial hearing. at the same time, a rally will take place in front of the hall of justice. >>> later this week, the man accused of assaulting and robbing 75-year-old, near lake merritt, had a court appearance. his head struck the ground during that attack. he later died. >>> 6:07 right now. the state of california is ready to adopt the new three-foot guideline for kids in the classroom. "today in the bay's" bob redell joins us live in livermore this morning where in-class instruction is resuming today. are they going to kick in these new guidelines right away, bob? >> reporter: no, not right away. good morning to you, laura. i spoke with the alameda county office of education this past friday. they said -- i'm using them as an example -- they would be waiting for the guidance from the county, from alameda county, and then move on from there. so schools like livermore high behind me, which as you mentioned, this district is resuming in-person i

if you can remember, vicha is the 84-year-old thai man killed while walking in front of his home backnuary. also today, several state lawmakers coming together to support the aapi community. state senator scott wiener and assembly members david chu and phil ting are gathering at ports mouth square at 9:15. these events follow a jam-packed weekend of other rallies throughout the bay area. we had cameras scattered throughout the bay area to capture what was happening. we have those stories on our website as well as details as to what's happening today and later this week in terms of those solidarity marches and rallies. we're live in san francisco, cierra johnson for "today in the bay." >>> you can help as well in the effort to stop the hate. nbc bay area, telemundo 48 and our parent company, comcast, will be partnering with the bay area based asian pacific fund and we will provide grants to organizations working to stop attacks against the asian and asian-american community. more than a half a million dollars have been donated to the fund and if you want to donate, we've added a link t

. >> reporter: that's katherine and she is referring to the killing of vicha ratanapakdee, an 84-year-old thai man who was assaulted and killed outside of a san francisco home back in january. a pretrial hearing for man accuse to have had crime, 19-year-old antoine watson took place this morning at the hall of justice, and it's why demonstrators chose the location as backdrop for today's rally. >> my mom is 80 years old, and i tell her, mama, don't go out and walk in the morning anymore because you never know. >> reporter: sasana yi also spoke at today's rally recounting an attack on her grandmother by a 17-year-old in 2019, her grand mother eventually dying from those injuries last year. she says sharing this story is a reminder to others in her community they're not alone. >> there is no shame. a lot of asians feel shame. my parents feel shame for what happened to my family. but because we see the other people are going through the same thing, we're not hiding. we're not invisible. >> reporter: in san francisco, pete serratos, nbc bay area news. >>> down the street, local and state lead

supporters of vicha held the rally as his accused killer made a court appearance upstairs.tended today's rally say they want to call attention to what's become a wave of violent crime targeting asian americans. >> it's that they are alert, that they are conscious about what's going on, that they are here because they care and they're here because they want accountability. >> watson appeared for a pretrial hearing today. >>> abc7 news anchor dion lim took part in an hour-long program tonight called stop the hate. it was a live town hall focused on the disturbing uptick in unprovoked attacks against asian americans. dion joined abc7 news anchor juju chang along with daniel dae kim and olivia munn and basketball player jeremy lin. she brought her own unique experience to the discussion and talked about why so many victims don't report these crimes to police. >> they're either scared. they don't think they'll be heard. they don't want retaliation. or like we heard from stefan and juju, they feel that sense culturally to keep their head down, keep their nose clean, don't cause t

. >> many of the victims have been older and vulnerable, vicha ratanapakdee, an 84-year-old thai manwhile on his morning walk. in new york, 61-year-old noel quintana's face was slashed from ear to ear with a box cutter in the subway, requiring 100 stitches. in oakland's chinatown, a camera captured a 91-year-old man being thrown to the ground by an assailant. in my own congressional district, a chinese american man was attacked at a bus stop in rosemead with his own cane, causing him to lose part of his finger. this has become almost a daily tragedy and has had a chilling effect on our community. it is time that we continue to push back against xenophobia every time it rears its ugly head. asian americans must not be used as scapegoats in times of crisis. lives are at stake, and it's critical that congress takes bold action to address this pandemic of discrimination and hate. i yield back. >> joining us now is congresswoman judy chu, democratic congresswoman from california. she is the chair of the congressional asian pacific american caucus. congresswoman, thank you so much for bein