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Police May Seek Hate-Crime Charge in Attack on Latino Mayor

The authorities in Burien, a Seattle suburb of 33,000 people, are investigating a weekend attack on the city’s first Latino mayor as a possible hate crime.

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By
Adeel Hassan
, New York Times

The authorities in Burien, a Seattle suburb of 33,000 people, are investigating a weekend attack on the city’s first Latino mayor as a possible hate crime.

The mayor, Jimmy Matta, said he had been physically and verbally assaulted by an older white man while attending a block party in the city Saturday night. Matta said in a Facebook post that his attacker was angry about policies that protect immigrants.

“I was physically assaulted, and verbally threatened by a male who was upset because Burien is a sanctuary city, and I am a Latino male mayor,” his post said.

Matta told The Seattle Times that his attacker “came around the back, took his arm, wrapped it around my neck and brought me down and started talking in my ear.” He said the man threatened his life and whispered, “We’re not going to let you Latino illegals take over our city.”

The mayor told the police that he did not know the man, but had come across him twice recently, a spokesman for the Kings County Sheriff’s Office said. The man had criticized the mayor’s policies on each occasion, the police said.

On Monday night, the suspect, a 62-year-old resident of Burien, turned himself into the police. He was arrested and released while the investigation continued, Sgt. Ryan Abbott of the King County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday. Abbot added that the case was expected to be forwarded to prosecutors late Tuesday, with a recommendation for hate-crime charges.

A few days after President Donald Trump was inaugurated, Burien adopted an ordinance instructing city officials, including the police force, not to question residents about their immigration status in most circumstances, making Burien a “sanctuary city.” Earlier this month at a City Council meeting, the police chief reaffirmed that policy.

“Simply put, fear and trust cannot coexist,” Chief Ted Boe said. “Any member of our community, regardless of immigration status, must be able to call the police when they need help, and support our investigation when they witness a crime.”

Matta is a former farmworker and labor organizer who was born in Idaho to parents who were unauthorized migrant farmworkers. He was elected to public office for the first time last November, more than nine months after the sanctuary ordinance was adopted; he was elevated to mayor by a vote of his City Council colleagues in January.

The city’s Latino population has tripled since 2000, according to census data, and 1 in 4 residents today is Latino. During last fall’s campaign for City Council, an out-of-state group sent a letter to more than 3,000 Burien residents that claimed to list unauthorized immigrants’ names, addresses and crimes. The letter was sent to residents who had signed a petition to repeal the city’s sanctuary-city policy.

The attack on the mayor was being investigated for a possible charge of malicious harassment, The Seattle Times said in its report. In Washington state, a hate crime is defined as intentionally injuring a person, damaging property, or threatening someone “because of his or her perception of the victim’s race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or mental, physical or sensory handicap.”

The mayor wrote in his Facebook post that he would “not tolerate being threatened by anyone.”

“You have the right to vote and voice your concerns,” he wrote. “However when you put your hands on me, I will press charges on you, and have our legal system take care of you.”

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