LACEY – Army Rangers from Fort Lewis have been arrested for investigation of an assault on a black man.
The three men were arrested for investigation of second-degree assault and malicious harassment after the fight Friday outside the Viking Lounge, Lacey police Sgt. Dave Campbell said.
“This is considered a hate crime,” Campbell said of the malicious harassment charge.
Police said the 36-year-old victim told investigators one of the men had tried to provoke him inside the bar. When he went outside to smoke a cigarette, one of the soldiers attacked him. The other two then joined in the assault.
The man was treated for minor injuries and bruises and then released from a hospital Friday. He said he’d been hit, kicked and choked, police said.
“He said he was being called the ‘N’ word by all three males while he was being assaulted,” Campbell said.
Capt. Chris Augustine, a spokesman for U.S. Army Special Operations Command, confirmed the arrests and said the command had just begun to gather facts.
The three soldiers are members of the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. The battalion is assigned to Fort Lewis but answers to the regiment headquarters at Fort Benning, Ga.
Tukwila: Esser defeats Tebelius to lead GOP
The state Republican Party on Saturday elected Luke Esser as the party’s new chairman.
Esser, a former state senator from Bellevue and a longtime party activist, defeated incumbent Diane Tebelius by a vote of 71-43.
“The first step towards recovering from our defeat in 2006 is recognizing that we have a problem, and today we did that,” said Esser. “Though we face difficult times I’m confident we will rebound. The Republican Party is overflowing with ideas for making Washington more prosperous and secure.”
The Republican Party also elected Olga Miller, who has served seven terms as a state committeewoman from Lewis County, as its new vice chairwomen. State party rules require the vice chair to be a woman if the chairman is a man.
Both Esser and Tebelius ran unsuccessfully for the party’s 8th Congressional District nomination in 2004. Tebelius edged Esser but then lost to Dave Reichert, who went on to win the seat.
Esser served in the state Legislature for eight years before losing last fall. He is a longtime aide to Rob McKenna, now the state attorney general, and is on leave to campaign for the state party office.
Associated Press
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