West Seattle Crime Watch: Hate-crime arrest in High Point vandalism

July 19, 2012 at 7:58 pm | In Crime, West Seattle news | 12 Comments

From SPD Blotter: A man is in jail, facing charges of malicious harassment (hate crime) and malicious mischief, after costly vandalism at a Muslim community center Tuesday night. SPD’s Jonah Spangenthal-Lee writes that the man told police he smashed windows at the building near 35th and Holly because he “hates Muslims.” Police say two city maintenance workers heard it happen, saw the suspect, called 911, and helped police find him at High Point Community Center a few blocks away.

12 Comments

  1. So not cool. Very glad the maintenance workers were able to help get the guy arrested!!

    Comment by AJP — 8:47 pm July 19, 2012 #

  2. Good on the City Employees for taking action!

    .

    Mike

    Comment by miws — 9:09 pm July 19, 2012 #

  3. Hate is such a horrible thing. Glad that the workers were there and were able to help in the arrest of this guy. There is way too much hate in the world today..

    Comment by ~~HockeyWitch~~ — 10:01 pm July 19, 2012 #

  4. Glad the guy was caught. WSB, please let us know if the community center needs help ($ or hands) with repairs.

    Comment by soosan — 10:27 pm July 19, 2012 #

  5. Good catch by the workers. Sorry this happened, that is no good, hurtful and lame.

    Comment by TM — 10:31 pm July 19, 2012 #

  6. This makes me very sad. I hope that the perpetrator is not released right away and that the bail is set very high. Hate crimes should all be treated equal.

    Comment by Rodriguez — 9:00 am July 20, 2012 #

  7. Bravo! to the Seattle City maintenance workers.

    Comment by LivesInWS — 12:43 pm July 20, 2012 #

  8. I am not Muslim, but respect the religion and the people who follow it.
    West Seattle is a diverse community and WE are much BETTER with the the Muslim community than without it.
    If I ever see someone defacing their building I too will call the cops!

    Comment by Sean — 3:30 pm July 20, 2012 #

  9. Apparently all vandalism isn’t created equal. Why are these broken windows worse than ones where the perp didn’t mouth off?

    We have laws against vandalism. And definitely against threats, assaults, etc. Also we have laws supporting free speech, which includes one’s right to be a jackass.

    Comment by JKB — 6:47 pm July 22, 2012 #

  10. Because our laws also state that if racism, etc., is the motive for a crime, it is malicious harassment (the formal name of “hate crime” in our statutes), not “only” vandalism. If you disagree with those laws, the avenue to change them would be through the state government – legislators, and governor. – TR

    Comment by WSB — 6:54 pm July 22, 2012 #

  11. Indeed. But public speech is the avenue for comment, even criticism.

    Make no mistake, I support neither vandalism nor bigotry. The former is a crime; I disagree that the latter should be.

    Think of it as equal protection under the law. The hate-crime rule gives certain groups special status. What reason is there for that, when we’re otherwise founded on equality?

    Comment by JKB — 8:59 pm July 22, 2012 #

  12. Because we are not otherwise founded on equality. Because through out America’s history certain groups of people have been targeted for harassment or worse, based soley on who they were.

    “Think of it as equal protection under the law. The hate-crime rule gives certain groups special status. What reason is there for that, when we’re otherwise founded on equality?”

    Comment by Kelly — 2:31 pm July 23, 2012 #

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