Along with the Mayor’s Office, the Seattle Police Department condemns yesterday evening’s property damage hate crime in the Chinatown-International District.
At 5:22 p.m., a 911 caller reported a man yelling racial slurs as he was smashing windows with a sledgehammer in the 700 block of South King Street. Due to staffing constraints and call volume, police were not dispatched until 6:03 p.m. Officers arrived at 6:14 p.m., and found the suspect still at the scene. Police arrested the 76-year-old man for the property damage he caused and for a hate crime offense based on the anti-Asian statements he made. Officers collected the sledgehammer and booked the man into King County Jail.
While the Department is relieved no one was injured, we recognize an incident like this causes psychological and emotional injuries – which are especially hard on a community that has experienced an overall rise in bias incidents over the last few years, including multiple targeted robberies this summer.
We believe every person in our city deserves to feel safe, and we strongly denounce this attack. SPD will continue to work with our City and community partners to support the CID and AAPI communities.