San Francisco double stabbing suspect had been granted early release through diversion program: report – Fox News
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The man suspected of stabbing two Asian American women on a San Francisco sidewalk was reportedly released early from a 25-year prison sentence due to a left-wing criminal justice diversion program.
Years before allegedly stabbing two elderly woman at a Tenderloin bus stop, Patrick Thompson, now 54, was charged with assault with a deadly weapon in 2017 and sent to a mental institution, according to the San Francisco Chronicle – but he was granted entry into a mental health diversion program in 2019, “successfully” completing it in August 2020.
A spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation deferred questions to San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, noting the CDCR is not responsible for sentencing decisions.
2 ASIAN WOMEN STABBED ON SAN FRANCISCO STREET, SUSPECT ARRESTED, POLICE SAY
Boudin’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment. He was elected in November 2019, and it was not immediately clear how much of a role, if any, he played in Thompson’s release.
<strong>Aerial images above the scene show multiple police vehicles present at the San Francisco intersection where a double stabbing took place. (FOX 2 Bay Area)</strong>
On Twitter, where his handle currently includes Chinese characters that approximate the pronunciation of his name in solidarity with Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, who are facing a nationwide rise in hate crimes, he said he met with the victims and their families earlier Thursday before he announced the charges against Thompson.
Graphic video shows the man, who police allege is Thompson, walking up behind two elderly women as they stood at a bus stop near the city’s Tenderloin Station, a thriving commercial district, in broad daylight Tuesday.
He pulls out a knife and slashes them both before bystanders rush over and he eventually flees.
The victims, 84 and 63 years old, and suffered multiple stab wounds and remained hospitalized as of Wednesday.
Thompson faces two counts each of attempted murder and elder abuse charges.
San Francisco police said Wednesday they were looking into whether racial bias was a motive in the attacks as anti-Asian hate crimes spike around the country.
San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin speaks to reporters before his Jan. 8, 2020 swearing-in ceremony in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
In late March, horrific video showed an Asian woman being punched, robbed, and then dragged by a vehicle in a San Francisco neighborhood in broad daylight. A national Asian American advocacy group, Asian Industry B2B, called on the Biden administration last month to take action to address the spike.
Boudin, whose own parents were convicted on felony murder charges in connection with the deadly 1981 Brinks’ heist, had lobbied New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to grant his father, David Gilbert, clemency earlier this year.
His mother, Kathy Boudin, was paroled in 2003.
Gilbert, the unarmed getaway driver, is still serving a 75-years-to-life sentence for his role in the robbery, which left two Nyack police officers, Edward O’Grady and Waverly Brown, and a Brinks security guard, Peter Paige, dead.
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Before the robbery, Boudin’s parents dropped their then-14-month-old son off with Weather Underground leaders Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn.
As an adult, he used his upbringing with incarcerated parents as a campaign talking point and called for criminal justice reforms.
But in January, he was forced to defend his office’s actions after a parolee allegedly ran a red light on New Year’s Eve in a stolen car in an incident that left two pedestrians dead.
Then in March, he drew backlash in another case involving an unprovoked attack on an Asian American. In that case, he caused an uproar when he referenced a 19-year-old suspect’s “temper tantrum” in the killing of an 84-year-old Thai immigrant, but not racial animus.
Fox News’ Jackie Zhou and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
