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Lawless in Seattle
FrontPageMagazine.com | March 14, 2001
by Michael Tremoglie
URL: http://www.frontpagemag.com/columnists/tremoglie/2001/trem03-15-01p.htm

DURING THE NOW INFAMOUS Rodney King incident, executives of the ACLU proclaimed that the LAPD was racist, based on a video. "If we had seen those pictures coming from South Africa, we would all know what they meant," said ACLU executive director Ira Glasser on the Phil Donahue Show.

However, a different standard has been applied to video images coming out of Seattle’s Mardi Gras riot two weeks ago. Many show blacks ganging up on white victims. But Seattle police are not even investigating the possibility that anti-white hate crimes may have been committed.

On the night of February 27, gangs of roving youths rampaged through partying crowds in the city’s Pioneer Square. When it was over, 72 were injured, one dead and 21 arrested.

Rumors began circulating almost immediately via e-mail and Internet message board that the disturbance had been racial – a case of black marauders preying on white victims – and that police had stood by and let it happen.

But corroborating details have been slow to trickle out through police, media and city officials.

The March 13 Washington Post did note that media images of the riot, "mainly showed groups of young black men attacking whites outside a police perimeter."

And Seattle police did acknowledge that "a group of young black men and women were responsible for many of the most serious assaults that occurred during the melee," according to the March 3 Seattle Times.

Witnesses also said that, "it may have been a black assailant who beat to death 20-year-old Kristopher Kime," according to the Seattle Times. Kime was struck with a bottle and stomped when he tried to rescue a woman who was being assaulted. His murder is still unsolved.

Unlike the ACLU in the Rodney King case, I will refrain from jumping to conclusions. I would prefer an investigation.

Unfortunately, a proper investigation seems unlikely. Police and city officials appear to have made up their minds on the subject, even before all the facts have come in.

"This is all about criminal activity. It is not about race," police spokesman Clem Benton told the Washington Post. Police have announced that more whites than blacks were arrested during the fracas.

When asked, Benton could not tell me the race of the victims.

Political pressures may be at work. According to the Seattle Times, local black leaders met with Mayor Paul Schell and Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske on March 2, "to express worry that the violence… is being blamed solely on black people."

Seattle police have been under fire recently for alleged civil rights abuses. A class action lawsuit was filed against the city last fall for racial profiling. Could fear of provoking further racial incidents have played a role in police passivity during the disturbance?

The Police Officers Guild, which represents rank-and-file cops, has complained that police were prevented from doing their job.

"I would like to personally apologize to Kris and his family and friends for my failed actions that night," said Lt. William Edwards at a memorial service for murder victim Kristopher Kime. "It shouldn’t have happened."

According to the March 7 Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske has explained that police were held back during the riot "for fear of inciting more violence."

Media organizations are also feeling the political heat.

Seattle Times executive editor Mike Fancher told me that his paper has been criticized by some readers for not reporting what they consider anti-white hate crimes during the riot, while others are complaining that the paper only showed photos of blacks committing crimes.

"It's a developing story, " he said.

For many Seattle citizens, it is not developing fast enough. KIRO-AM radio talk show host Dave Ross says, "I started getting calls from people saying, 'The newspapers are sweeping this under the rug. It clearly was black on white, nobody wants to report it; what are they afraid of?' "

It is important that we avoid taking the Rodney King approach to the Seattle violence. We should not make assumptions based on a few videos.

But neither should we dismiss the possibility that anti-white hate crimes may have been committed, simply because Seattle officials are reluctant to explore these allegations.

To borrow a line from the movie "Stand and Deliver," bigotry is blaming somebody because of their skin color and not blaming them because of their skin color.

What we need in Seattle is a more thorough investigation. Unfortunately, police and city officials may not have the stomach for such a probe.

Michael P. Tremoglie is a freelance writer currently working on his first novel, and an ex-Philadelphia cop. E-mail him at elfegobaca2@earthlink.net.

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