from the PI
Assault of transsexual investigated as hate crime
Seattle police believe the Thursday afternoon beating of a transsexual woman may have been a hate crime, the P-I's Levi Pulkkinen reports.
About 5:15 p.m., police received a report that a man was assaulting a woman in the 600 block of 23rd Avenue in the Central District, according to police reports.
The victim, a 54-year-old Seattle resident, told police a man walked up to her and began shouting anti-gay slurs and profanity. The suspect - also in his 50s - then punched the victim in the side of the face and threatened to continue the beating if she spoke.
The woman said she did not know the man, police say, though she'd seen him before in the area.
Police are investigating the incident as malicious harassment - Washington's hate crime statute. The attacker left the scene before police arrived and was not located.
Seattle police believe the Thursday afternoon beating of a transsexual woman may have been a hate crime, the P-I's Levi Pulkkinen reports.
About 5:15 p.m., police received a report that a man was assaulting a woman in the 600 block of 23rd Avenue in the Central District, according to police reports.
The victim, a 54-year-old Seattle resident, told police a man walked up to her and began shouting anti-gay slurs and profanity. The suspect - also in his 50s - then punched the victim in the side of the face and threatened to continue the beating if she spoke.
The woman said she did not know the man, police say, though she'd seen him before in the area.
Police are investigating the incident as malicious harassment - Washington's hate crime statute. The attacker left the scene before police arrived and was not located.