Posted on March 28, 2016

Police Arrest Volunteer in Burglary, Bias Crime at Africatown Center

Tyrone Beason, Seattle Times, March 26, 2016

Police have made an arrest in a case of burglary and vandalism at the Africatown Center for Education and Innovation in Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood.

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On March 20, staff at the center, at Martin Luther King Jr. Way South and South Alaska Street, called police because they suspected a volunteer had written a bad check, according to police spokesman Mark Jamieson. Also, some computers and other electronics were missing.

While police were there, the volunteer arrived and, with his family, worked out an agreement with center personnel to reimburse the organization for the check. Jamieson said officers lacked probable cause to make an arrest.

Later in the week, the center was burglarized a second time, and someone left racist graffiti on the walls aimed at African Americans, police said.

Staff at the center again suspected the volunteer. Police found and interviewed him, then arrested him for investigation of burglary. He is also being investigated in connection with the graffiti, which is considered a bias crime, Jamieson said.

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[Editor’s Note: This post notes that the suspected perp is East African. Here’s someone who fell for the hoax. Here are photos of the graffiti, which included a swastika and the phrases “nigger babies” and “vote Trump.”]