The horrific stabbing video spread like wildfire on social media, rekindling memories of random violent attacks against Asian Americans.
The surveillance footage captured on the afternoon of March 5 shows a figure in a black hoodie ambling down the sidewalk near the corner of Stockton and Sacramento Streets in Chinatown. Suddenly and seemingly without cause or warning, the person lunges at a man in a dark blue T-shirt waiting to cross the street and stabs him in the lower back.
The victim clutches his wound in shock before stumbling and falling to his knees.
Court documents say police officers found the victim with a 3-to-4-inch gash in his lower back “seeping significant quantities of blood.” The knife had narrowly missed the victim’s aorta.
“No words spoken, no threat posed,” the charging documents state.
Minutes after arriving on the scene, police officers spotted a man matching the description of the suspect carrying a plastic bag. As law enforcement approached, the person attempted to discard the bag. Inside was a kitchen knife with a steel blade still covered in fresh blood.
Police arrested Jian Feng Huang near the 600 block of Powell Street. Huang is a 38-year-old man with a history of arrests over the past decade whose father is influential and well-connected in Chinatown.
“Mr. Huang, like all of us, is entitled to due process and is innocent under the law,” Deputy Public Defender Tatiana Howard said in a statement. “Our office will scrutinize the police’s evidence closely and will defend him against these charges.”
In 2016, seven cars parked on Waverly Place were vandalized with their windows smashed, and Huang was arrested as a suspect. He was later released on bail but failed to appear in court as required, prompting the court to issue a bench warrant. In 2017, Huang was arrested again after police discovered he had been living in the Wong Family Benevolent Association building in Chinatown, which was under a fire alarm at the time, according to reports by the Chinese-language newspaper World Journal. He was convicted of arson in San Mateo County in 2020.
Huang’s father is Chu Wen Huang, an active Chinatown community member who has served as chairman of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, one of the most influential advocacy organizations in the neighborhood, sources told the Standard.
In recent years, Chu Wen Huang has been active in pro-China groups. He was quoted by the Standard in 2023 while protesting Taiwan’s then-Vice President Lai Ching-te’s visit to the Bay Area. Chu Wen Huang did not respond to requests for comment.
On social media, anger was directed at bystanders who apparently ignored the victim in the aftermath of the attack. “How about all those cowards walking past an injured man,” read one representative comment on Reddit.
However, the Chinese-language newspaper Sing Tao Daily reported (opens in new tab) that nearby shopkeepers and passersby sprang into action, providing first aid, calling 911, and providing witness statements. According to court documents, the victim was put in a medically induced coma as surgeons worked to repair his internal organs. He remains in the hospital.
“This is a horrific attack on an innocent man,” said District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.
Huang’s arraignment for charges including attempted murder is scheduled for Tuesday.