Protester attacks and injures Seattle mayor

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, July 7, 2001

By Elizabeth Murtaugh

Associated Press

SEATTLE — A man protesting the recent shooting of a black man by Seattle police hit Mayor Paul Schell in the face with a megaphone during a community celebration Saturday afternoon, police said.

Schell was rushed to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he was in stable condition with facial fractures above and below his right eye. Doctors ruled out a concussion and said they would wait for the swelling to dissipate before determining whether surgery would be necessary.

Seattle police arrested a 55-year-old man after two officers wrestled him to the ground, police chief Gil Kerlikowske told reporters at Harborview.

The suspect was taken to King County Jail for investigation of felony assault, Kerlikowske said.

The man is a community activist who had been pressing to establish an African-American Heritage Museum in Seattle. He has interrupted at least one Schell news conference in the past to try to draw attention to his cause.

The suspect and several other protesters gathered outside the "Unity on Union" community event at 23rd Avenue and E. Union Street in Seattle’s Central District. The event, calling attention to neighborhood revitalization efforts, was in the same area that has been the scene of several protests following a white officer’s fatal shooting of Aaron Roberts, a black man, on May 31.

Protester Dale Hodges said he and the suspect had been holding a sign that read "Stop Police Terrorism" seconds before the attack.

"The mayor was shouting, trying to placate him, as if synchronizing the stoplights are going to make everything OK in the Central District," Hodges said. "It was very insulting to him, an ocean of white faces standing on this place where the guy had been murdered, and he just snapped."

Hodges said the mayor went down and lay still for several minutes. There was no blood visible on his face, he said.

Hodges said the mayor had called over to the suspect, saying something to the effect, "If we could just get a dialogue going, we could work out our differences."

Kerlikowske said the suspect blindsided the mayor, who was standing offstage with several other people.

Many Central District residents have blamed Schell for what they consider unfair treatment of minorities.

Schell’s glasses were broken in the attack, Kerlikowske said.

The mayor is "going to have an enormous shiner," said Schell’s spokesman, Dick Lilly.

"The mayor’s in stable condition and in very good humor," he said. "He asked what the Mariners score was."

Despite Saturday’s attack, the mayor said he remains committed to improvement efforts in the Central District, Lilly said.

People at the celebration voiced strong support for the mayor after the attack, shouting down the band of protesters, Kerlikowske said. Black leaders planned a news conference to condemn the violence.

Black leaders held a news conference at Harborview to denounce the assault and offered prayers for Schell’s recovery.

"We are also here today to say unequivocally, in no uncertain terms, we deplore … this senseless and unthinkable attack on the mayor," said the Rev. Leslie Braxton, pastor of the Seattle’s Mount Zion Baptist Church.

Kerlikowske rode in the ambulance with Schell and said the mayor was in good spirits.

"He’s in some pain," Kerlikowske said. "I think he’s proving he can take a punch, literally. … The mayor’s a very tough guy."

The FBI is reviewing the Roberts shooting to determine whether race might have been a factor. An inquest jury will be seated this month to decide whether the two officers involved acted appropriately during the traffic stop that resulted in Roberts’ death.

According to police accounts, Roberts was stopped for erratic driving, then grabbed the arm of a police officer during a traffic stop and tried to drive off with the officer hanging from the car door.

Roberts, 37, was a convicted felon being sought on an arrest warrant.

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