Female, Asian Cop Is Assaulted And Nearly Strangled By Racist Hobo Who Was Threatening Other Asians In San Fran

SAN FRANCISCO - Surveillance video captured Friday night shows a man attacking an Asian San Francisco police officer after she tried to detain him near Portsmouth Square.

The incident happened just before 7 p.m. near Clay and Kearny Streets and video of the attack was posted to Instagram Sunday morning.

Witnesses tell KTVU that the man seen on the surveillance video had been seen vandalizing rental scooters less than two hours earlier.

Police told the man that he needed to leave, but he showed up again and began yelling racist comments at Asian people as they walked by.

When police responded again, the man attacked the female officer.

Bystanders helped the officer, and the man was taken into custody.

Police have not identified the man, but witnesses tell KTVU that the man appeared to be homeless.

It's unclear how severely the officer was injured in the attack.