An Asian woman was pushed into a canal in Ireland by teenagers in an allegedly racially-motivated assault.
The Gardaí, or Irish police, have since identified the teenagers, but criminal charges are said to be "unlikely" due to their ages.
Caught on camera
In a now removed TikTok video, Xuedan Xiong can be seen confronting a group of teenagers. In the video, you can hear her saying to them: "Tell your friend, don't racial[ly] discriminate."
As she is speaking, the boys can be heard laughing in the background.
She then screams as she is pushed into the canal.
According to the Irish Times on Aug. 15, what was shown in the video was allegedly only one part of the incident.
Xiong said that she was walking between Castleknock and Ashtown – two suburbs in Ireland — at around 7:00pm when a group of teenage boys on bicycles rushed at her. She screamed, and the boys mockingly imitated her scream.
A second and third group of boys then passed by, shouting "coronavirus", "Chinese noodles", and "fried noodles" at her.
She then ran after the group to confront them, leading to the events seen in the video clip.
Difficult to find the teenagers
Fortunately, three passers-by stopped to help. Xiong then went to another suburb, Blanchardstown, to make a formal police report.
But she said that the police told her that it was unlikely that the group of teenagers would be found.
"The Garda asked if I had phone numbers for any witnesses. I had asked the people by the canal to be witnesses for when the Garda arrived but I didn’t think to ask for their numbers. I was too upset by what had happened. His question made me feel like I needed to have a complete dossier prepared before reporting to the gardaí.
I understand the gardaí are busy because they’re under-resourced but I believe if I’d arrived in with a broken leg they would have treated me differently. I was still hurt. But he made it sound like nothing could be done"
Youths identified
Despite her misgivings, the police did manage to identify the youths in the video, according to another report in the Irish Times on Aug. 16, citing unnamed sources.
However, as they are under 18 years of age, it is unlikely that they will be charged with assault.
Instead, they might be given a caution under the juvenile liaison programme, which will leave them without a criminal record.
Not the first time
Xiong said that this was not the first time she was a victim of racist abuse.
Xiong — who has lived in Ireland for 14 years and has a 10-year-old-son — said that she would purposely avoid groups of teenage boys because of prior incidents of verbal abuse from them.
Xiong also said that there had been a number of incidents in some Chinese shops and restaurants that has led to the Chinese community in Ireland feeling like the the coronavirus is being connected to them, reported RTÉ.
Lord Mayor of Dublin Hazel Chu, who is of Chinese descent, wrote on Twitter: "My heart goes out to the assaulted woman Shirley Xuedan Xiong. Make no mistake this was an assault."
Leo Varadkar, the Tánaiste or deputy head of government, also wrote on Twitter: "It shouldn’t take bravery to go for an evening walk. We should all be ashamed this happened to Ms Xiong."
Xiong said that she is still shaken by the incident.
She said: "I wouldn’t feel comfortable going to the local park now because I’ve seen teenagers there as well. I don’t know how long it will take me to get that courage back.”
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Top image from Tian Yu Lloyd/Twitter