Updated Post 8/19/2020:
Following weeks of investigation, detectives were able to identify a suspect in this case. On Wednesday morning, detectives arrested the 27-year-old male in the South Lake Union neighborhood. The suspect ran from officers and stated he injured himself when he fell to the ground. He was taken to the hospital for treatment and then booked into the King County Jail for investigation of assault.
This remains an active and on-going investigation.
Original Post 7/30/2020:
Detectives are investigating after a 47-year-old man was assaulted early Thursday after confronting protesters in the Queen Anne neighborhood.
Officers met the victim at Swedish Hospital early this morning, where he was receiving treatment for a head injury. The victim told officers that around 12 am, he was attempting to sleep but was kept awake by a protest that had been making its way through the neighborhood. He said that he went outside his home near 10th Ave W and W Lee Street and asked the crowd to quiet down so that he could sleep, video recording the confrontation on his phone. The man said that members of the protest became angry that he was recording them, flashed laser pointers in his eyes, and then struck him in the head with a blunt object, possibly a flashlight. Several other protesters provided first aid to the victim while, according to the victim, a person with the protest deleted the video on his phone. A family member transported the victim to the hospital, where he met with police.
Officers spoke with multiple witnesses who confirmed the victim’s story, found surveillance cameras that may have captured the incident, and took photos of blood splatter at the crime scene.
Detectives are now investigating and asking anyone with information about this incident to contact the Violent Crimes tip line at 206-233-5000.