Bay Area’s AAPI community members are demanding an apology and transparency. They said that Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price was “condescending and divisive” in an email sent to community members asking about the Jasper Wu case.
“We're asking for DA Price to correct her email. To really state that there were some errors in her email. Some things that may have not been written the proper way,” said Paul Jhin, co-founder of the National Asian Pacific Islander Prosecutors Association.
Jhin said an email, which was obtained by NBC Bay Area and allegedly written by Price, is disappointing from top to bottom.
“The way it was addressed is to the Chinese communities, which we found to be an uttering type of statement, where we are being differentiated,” he said.
The email was received by a community member concerned about the case of 2-year-old Jasper Wu, who was killed in the crossfire of a gang battle on I-880 in November of 2021.
There have been reports that Price planned to drop enhancements against the three people arrested in the case.
But in a response, the community member is told they’ve been misled by the local Chinese community and the media, adding, “some people don't know about the basic principles of constitutional law.”
“It could be implied, she was talking about the Chinese communities again,” Jhin said.
Price said that her office is working with the Asian Law Caucus to support AAPI victims with healing and non-carceral forms of accountability.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
A statement denied by the executive director of that organization, who clarifies the meeting last week was just an introductory conversation.
“A gang murder by a gun on a highway on a 23-month-old baby is not the type of case we should be discussing non-carceral forms of accountability,” Jhin said.
Price released a video message online Thursday.
“I want to clear the record. I assured the parents of Jasper Wu that the men we believe are responsible for his death are charged with serious crimes and they will be held accountable,” Price said in the video message.
NBC Bay Area did not have the opportunity to ask her questions and she did not respond to the station’s request for an interview.
“We have not made any decision about what charges to pursue or what not to pursue,” Price said in a video statement.
