Boulder council member says she is OK after assault at restaurant opening

BOULDER, Colo. ( KDVR ) — Boulder City Council Member Tara Winer is recovering after being attacked at a ribbon cutting in Boulder’s University Hill neighborhood.

On Friday, Boulder city leaders came together to celebrate Asian culture and the new Nana’s Dim Sum and Dumplings.

“It was a beautiful gathering right at Nana’s Dim Sum, and there was decoration and there were kids there that were dressed up in costume. They were drumming, and it was a beautiful event for the Asian community,” Winer said.

Suddenly, a man walked by. Winer described him as being loud and belligerent.

“He starts cursing and yelling that we were blocking the sidewalk and then he starts yelling racial slurs at the Asian people,” she said.

She said Boulder Chamber Ambassador Matthew Jensen tried to de-escalate the situation by leading the man away from the celebration.

“At that point when he was down the street, he had a knife,” Winer said. “I personally didn’t know he had a knife.”

She said if she knew he had a knife, it might have impacted what she did next when he came back and continued yelling racial slurs at the children.

“I’m a mother and a grandmother of three,” Winer said. “I have a mama bear instinct that’s pretty big. I’m getting madder and madder. These kids are standing right there. It’s a beautiful celebration.”

Boulder councilwoman confronts man for hate speech

She headed up the street and told the man she was trying to get his picture to report him for hate speech.

“He runs to me, he punches me in the face, and he throws me onto the ground,” Winer said.

He had her pinned on the ground when Jensen and two security guards from Illegal Pete’s across the street ran over to help. They got the man off of her and she called 911 while they tried to hold the man down. Winer said he bit Jensen and one of the security guards in the struggle.

Finally, Boulder police arrived and apprehended the man, who was later identified as 26-year-old Chase Raskin. They arrested Raskin on charges of felony menacing and two counts of third-degree assault.

Winer was looked at by an EMT who offered to take her to the hospital for her injuries, but she declined.

“I wanted to go eat,” Winer said with a laugh. “That’s all I was thinking about.”

Since the incident on Friday, she said she has seen an outpouring of support from her community.

“I have had a tremendous outpouring of love from the entire community,” Winer said. “This community stands against hate, and so it makes me proud to be on Boulder City Council.”

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