Boulder City Council member Tara Winer was physically assaulted Friday evening, after confronting a man she said was yelling racial slurs in Boulder’s University Hill neighborhood.

In a phone interview Saturday, Winer said she was punched in the face and knocked to the ground by a man who was disrupting a ribbon-cutting ceremony around 6 p.m. Friday for Nana’s Dim Sum and Dumplings, which was coordinated by the Boulder Chamber. She said the man was arrested by Boulder police officers.

On an X post Saturday evening, the Boulder Police Department identified the suspect as 26-year-old Chase Raskin. According to the post, he was arrested for felony menacing and two counts of third-degree assault and taken to jail.

Winer described her attacker as around 6 feet tall, in his 20s, thin and aggressive. She said someone at the police department informed her that the man was unhoused.

Winer said she was OK following the assault, aside from a headache and pain in her ribs.

“When I woke up this morning, all I could have was gratitude,” Winer said. “The outpouring of love from the community and concern has been pretty big.”

The new Asian restaurant is at 1125 13th St. The ceremony also included music and dance performances by Chinese youths from the Denver metro area.

Boulder Chamber ambassador Matthew Jensen was in attendance, as well. Jensen said the man who attacked Winer was “very angry” about not being able to walk on the sidewalk because of the ceremony.

“It seemed like he was either having some mental troubles, or he was under the influence of something,” Jensen said on Saturday. “You could just tell it wasn’t a great situation, and he wasn’t using good judgment.”

Jensen said he and another attendee tried to diffuse the situation. According to Jensen, the man pulled out a knife and pointed it at the crowd, but ultimately left. He soon came back, however, and began kicking flags in front of the restaurant and yelling.

Jensen said the man’s shouts were initially muted by the music from the ceremony, but once the music stopped, the crowd could “clearly” hear him yelling racial slurs.

Winer said the man began shouting profanities and racial slurs specifically aimed at Chinese people.

“I couldn’t take that kind of racism and hate,” she said. “It was too much.”

As Jensen led the man away from the restaurant, Winer said she approached the man and asked if she could take his picture. She said she wanted to report him for hate speech.

Winer described the attack that followed.

“He looked at me, he ran over to me, he punched me in the face, and he threw me on the ground,” she said. “He was on me, and I was on the street.”

Jensen reacted quickly, grabbing the man and pulling him off of Winer.

“He went straight for her,” Jensen said. “I don’t think she knew he had a knife. There was no choice. It was either let her get hurt, or do something. I just wanted to make sure that she was OK and everybody was safe.”

According to both Jensen and Winer, two security guards at the nearby Illegal Pete’s restaurant on 13th Street also noticed the assault. They ran across the street and cuffed and restrained the man.

Boulder police officers arrived shortly after the assault. First responders examined Winer, but she chose not to go to the hospital.

Winer said she is “very touched” by Jensen and the security guards who responded to the situation.

“I feel like they either saved my life or saved me from a big injury,” Winer said.

Winer said she will be pressing charges.

Winer added that she hopes people will support Nana’s Dim Sum and Dumplings, and emphasized her commitment to opposing racism directed at the Asian community.

“This is definitely not the only time Asian people have had to deal with hate,” she said.

Reporter Andrea Grajeda contributed to this report.