MONDAY NIGHT: The weapon-waving incident reported here wasn’t the only police response in The Junction early this afternoon. Tonight SPD released this initial summary of what officers were told started as a scuffle over a sign:
At 1337 hours, a 71-year-old victim, who is of Jewish descent, was walking along the street when he saw a sign in support of Gaza on a light pole. The victim ripped the sign off the light pole. The suspect, a male in his 30’s, was walking dogs nearby and yelled at the victim and the victim yelled back at the suspect. The suspect then approached the victim and headbutted him in the face, causing significant facial injuries and knocking him to the ground. The suspect was calling the victim a “f—ing Zionist pig” during the attack. After the suspect headbutted the victim, he began to walk away. The victim got up and yelled at the suspect, asking him what his problem was. The suspect then turned toward the victim and walked at him aggressively. The victim, fearing he was going to be assaulted again, pepper sprayed the suspect. Regardless of being pepper sprayed, the suspect was able to knock the victim to the ground, get on top of him and repeatedly punch him in his face. The suspect only stopped when on-lookers intervened. The victim believed the assault was because of his religion.
We didn’t hear any of this in realtime so we just checked the audio archives. Over the publicly monitorable air, it was dispatched simply as a fight between two men near 42nd/Alaska. If you have information, the SPD incident # is 25-299777.
TUESDAY MORNING: We requested and obtained the report narrative from SPD. It reveals that a 38-year-old suspect was arrested:
On 10/13/2025, at 1332 hours I officer xxxx was dispatched to 4203 Alaska AVE SW, for an assault call.
When I arrived, I contacted ARRESTEE who stated he was assaulted by V/VICTIM. ARRESTEE stated V/VICTIM was tearing down GAZA posters on the north end corner of California Ave SW and SW Alaska ST near the closed Starbucks.
Arrestee stated while walking his dogs, he approached V/VICTIM tearing down a Gaza poster, resulting in ARRESTEE and V/VICTIM getting into a verbal disagreement arguing with each other. ARRESTEE STATED HE and V/VICTIM walked into each other during the argument causing them both to headbutt each other, leaving ARRESTEE with a laceration above his forehead. ARRESTEE declined any medical attention, but I still dispatched fire to make an assessment. SFD E #32 responded and evaluated him on-scene.
ARRESTEE stated after the headbutt, he turned the corner and walked east on SW ALASKA ST. ARRESTEE stated as he walked down SW ALASKA ST, V/VICTIM followed him so he turned around to confront him, that’s when V/VICTIM pepper sprayed him in the face. ARRESTEE stated due to being peppered sprayed, he was unable to keep grip of the dog leashes. ARRESTEE stated he then defended himself due to being pepper sprayed and was blindly swinging his fists, which resulted in a tussle between the two. ARRESTEE stated estimated number of times he struck V/VICTIM is around two strikes.
I contacted V/VICTIM, a 71-year-old Jewish male whose mouth was covered in blood, and his lips were swollen. V/VICTIM declined multiple requests for medical attention.
V/VICTIM stated as he tore down the GAZA poster on a public light pole, he did not agree with on the corner of California Ave SW and SW Alaska ST, he was confronted by ARRESTEE who called him a ‘ZIONIST PIG’. V/VICTIM stated the two began to have an argument resulting in a back and forth between words. V/VICTIM stated ARRESTEE then walked up towards him and headbutted him in the face, causing his mouth to bleed and lips to swell knocking V/VICTIM to the ground. V/VICTIM stated after the headbutt, he walked towards A/VICTIM following him east on SW ALASKA ST’S sidewalk asking ‘why did you hit me’
V/VICTIM stated as he was attempting to get ARRESTEE’S attention, ARRESTEE turned around and walked back aggressively towards him, closing the distance. VICTIM/VICTIM stated because he was already assaulted from the initial headbutt, he feared he would be assaulted again so he pulled out his pepper spray and sprayed ARRESTEE in the face to defend himself.
V/VICTIM stated after he used his pepper spray on ARRESTEE, ARRESTEE immediately knocked him down and began punching him in the head around six times.
V/VICTIM stated he believed ARRESTEE disengaged due to the pepper spray taking effect and bystanders yelling at them.
V/VICTIM stated he believed he was attacked because he is Jewish and during the assault ARRESTEE called him a ‘Zionist PIG’.
WITNESS/1 remained on scene and was contacted. WITNESS/1 stated he only witnessed the moment V/VICTIM was on the sidewalk and ARRESTEE was standing over him, punching him in the face. WITNESS/1 stated he attempted to break up the confrontation by screaming ‘stop’ multiple times.
WITNESS/1 stated he called 911 while grabbing the dog leash due to ARRESTEE losing control of the dogs.
WITNESS/1 stated he then walked ARRESTEE towards the entrance of XXXX XXXX located at XXXX SW Alaska ST as ARRESTEE asked for water to wash his face.
WITNESS/1 believes the only reason why ARRESTEE probably stopped assaulting V/VICTIM was due to the pepper spray taking effect.
I searched the area for any possible footage but was unable to locate any. I also asked two stores for any possible witness or footage, and both said the cameras are not facing the incident’s location
After I concluded my investigation, I determined ARRESTEE assaulted V/VICTIM due his perception of V/VICTIM being Jewish. V/VICTIM believed he was targeted because he is Jewish.
I placed ARRESTEE under arrest and read his Miranda rights. Officer XXXX #8599 searched him incident to arrest and transported ARRESTEE to KCJ where he was booked for investigation of Hate Crime.
(Both parties declined medical attention)
WITNESS/1and V/VICTIM provided an audio statement that was uploaded to Axon evidence. Photos of the injuries were also uploaded to Axon evidence.
The King County Jail roster shows the suspect is still there, held for investigation of hate crime.
7:22 PM TUESDAY: He has since been released; a King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson says that “based on available information from police so far, there is insufficient evidence to show that the defendant was targeting the victim’s religion.”
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