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1

telling people to slow down still doesnt warrant a beatdown.

Posted by Bellevue Ave | February 6, 2008 9:18 AM
2

HEY ANONYMOUS:

You man up and go to the cops. If you witnessed this you have a civic fucking duty to participate. If the guys who got beat up initiated the fight, as you claim, then the cops should hear your eye-witness account.

Posted by bill | February 6, 2008 9:24 AM
3

Agree w/#2, but if it's true, that sorta changes everything. And I also think whoever received this email has an obligation to turn it over to the cops (withholding evidence and all that).

Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty | February 6, 2008 9:30 AM
4

"telling people to slow down still doesnt warrant a beatdown."

True enough, but beating on somebody's car with a cane just might.

Posted by Clint | February 6, 2008 9:40 AM
5

where? somolia?

Posted by Bellevue Ave | February 6, 2008 9:46 AM
6

But, but...I thought it was the hip hop kids, and their loud music and their funny hats that caused this.

Posted by John_Bigboote | February 6, 2008 9:48 AM
7

if someone hit my car with a cane/stick/rock/fist, i would most certainly get out and deliver a beat down. that he got beat with the same cane he used to hit the car is sweet, sweet justice.

Posted by crusher | February 6, 2008 9:49 AM
8

I know of another "gay bashing" on Capital Hill that was a bunch of bullshit too.

The "victim" is an acquaintance of mine and I got the full story about what happened straight from his mouth. It happened at the Shell station on Broadway over a Queers hoodie. The "gay" guy wearing said hoodie got in the "gay basher's" face and escalated the situation on purpose because he thought it was funny. Then he called the cops, had the guy arrested, and filed charges against him. It is being treated as a hate crime and last I heard the guy faces some serious time.

The kicker in all this? The "victim" is straight and lied to both the city's prosecutor and the the Seattle Gay News about his sexuality. The SGN printed a huge story on it and it's all based on a lie. The "victim" also has a very long history of instigating fights for the fuck of it.

I call bullshit on this kind of behavior and the more I write about this the worse I feel about not saying something. This might be a story I need to share with the city's prosectuor and perhaps SGN.

Posted by Anonymous | February 6, 2008 9:51 AM
9

If this is true, then the plot thickens indeed...of course, these "victims" would have had a harder time proving that this was a hate crime if they admitted from the beginning that they were the instigators.

Your sexual orientation doesn't matter: if you're going to be an asshole - whether it involves yelling at people for driving too fast or hitting their car with a cane - you should expect a physical confrontation. Seattle is way too quick to jump on these type of situations, where any gay guy who gets his shit rocked is automatically the victim of a hate crime.

Posted by Seattle Crime Blogger | February 6, 2008 9:58 AM
10

In Eastern Washington you can get a beat down just for "talking shit" about somebody's vehicle.

Posted by Clint | February 6, 2008 9:59 AM
11

In Eastern Washington you can get a beat down just for "talking shit" about somebody's vehicle.

Posted by Clint | February 6, 2008 9:59 AM
12

Gay, Straight, Whatever, insecure
"whupass" Alpha males are sooooo tired... (yawn). A real man knows when to walk away.

Posted by Andy Niable | February 6, 2008 10:00 AM
13

No, no. Please.

Nobody come forward. No need to actually report anything to the cops that you saw. That's so 20th century. God forbid you tell anyone your real name.

As long as you sent off an anonymous email or posted something to a blog, you've done your duty. We'll have their trial here on the Internet.

Posted by elenchos | February 6, 2008 10:01 AM
14

Well, KOMO's a bunch of closet Republicans who passive-aggressively push their rightist agenda, but this I, Anon sure sorts things out, doesn't it?

Posted by Gomez | February 6, 2008 10:06 AM
15

LOL @ "Bashomon"!!!

Posted by David | February 6, 2008 10:07 AM
16

Call someone a 'faggot', whether they are gay or not, is grounds for a felony harassment charge.

Posted by stunk | February 6, 2008 10:10 AM
17

@10&11:
You're wrong. In Eastern Washington you can get a beat down just for "talking shit" about Eastern Washington. F Off!

Posted by Hal | February 6, 2008 10:13 AM
18

The bit about caning the car changes the dealio for sure, but so does this detail from TFA at KOMO:

The police report says the attackers were seen driving erratically up East Howell Street with their tires squealing and the driver was passing cars by crossing into oncoming lanes of traffic.

The two victims spotted the car racing toward them.

"(They) put their hand up, yelled at the car to slow down, and that drew attention of the suspects," said Mark Jamieson with the Seattle Police Department.


(emphasis mine)
Posted by lostboy | February 6, 2008 10:21 AM
19

@16 - That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. If name-calling was a felony, we'd all be in jail by now.

Posted by Hernandez | February 6, 2008 10:27 AM
20

How do we know that one of the beating victims took his cane to the attacker's car? Near as I can tell it's just this one I, Anonymous message. The KIRO article in question doesn't back that part of the story up at all, and suggests there were other witnesses at the scene who "jumped in to help while the attackers took off." So why aren't any of those witnesses backing up I Anonymous?

And...look at this: "Three men jumped out of the car, ran towards the victims, and attacked, police said." Okay. If one of them was right there beating on the car with his cane, then why would any of the attackers have to "run towards" them? All you'd have to do is just jump out of the damn car and you're already there in his face...right?

So...from the KIRO article what I get is that the victims yelled at the car to slow down and the people in the car got pissed off about that. Driving erratically? As in...drunk maybe?

Posted by Bruce Garrett | February 6, 2008 10:35 AM
21

Er...I mixed up KIRO And KOMO...sorry...

Posted by Bruce Garrett | February 6, 2008 10:36 AM
22

Anyone who drives like that deserves to get their car hit by a cane. Although they truly deserve a brick through the windshield.

Posted by keshmeshi | February 6, 2008 10:39 AM
23

If I had a nickel for every schmuck who walked out in the middle of the street without looking and then screamed at me for speeding.

Sorry gang. I know violence and machismo are frowned upon here, but you hit someones car with a foreign object, the car owner has every right to ram said object down your throat.

Posted by Rotten666 | February 6, 2008 10:53 AM
24

So when the assholes make right turns through a crosswalk, in the very lane I am walking, and I am so close to them that I can kick their fender, they should jump out and beat me? (not likely: I'm OK with my fists)

Attempting to kill someone with a 3,000 lb metal missile is more than enough reason to use some self defense and bang that hunk of metal up a bit. Negligent driving is still a criminal offense, isn't it? Recklessly endangering pedestrians just because you are too lazy to walk yourself isn't reason to beat people up.

Oh, and if you do have to beat someone up, like if they foolishly got out of their car to fight you, don't mention their race or presumed orientation. Just make it an impersonal beat down. ... And gouge out their eyes so they can't run down others in the future!

Posted by Sir Vic | February 6, 2008 10:53 AM
25

@23: You are a materialistic asshole. Fuck off.

Posted by Boris | February 6, 2008 11:05 AM
26

Seattle drivers should all be slapped.

This morning on Leary Way I was on my motorcycle waiting to turn left to Cafe Ladro and this car coming the other way stopped and tried to get me to turn in front of him. I blasted my horns and the moron started waving his hand. Finally I flipped him off and he drove on.

Yeah, that was me, you passive aggressive Seattle driver. Who taught everyone in Seattle to drive like that? Is it in drivers' ed in this city? No, you dumb bastard, I'm not going to risk my life because you think you are "polite". Learn the rules of the road and follow them. Don't get creative.

This has nothing to do with alleged provoked gay bashing.

Posted by elenchos | February 6, 2008 11:12 AM
27

Now that I've had a chance to think it over. How did the guy manage to hit a car that was speeding down the street? This I, Anonymous submitter sounds like a lying sack of shit.

Posted by keshmeshi | February 6, 2008 11:23 AM
28

there are many possible explanations for what happened that night.

i'm a bicycle rider, and i drive a car as well. i try to look for bicyclists, but one dark evening i almost didn't see a guy in black walking in a crosswalk. but i did see him, and came to an abrupt stop before the crosswalk (he was not in front of my car, but still off to the right). the guy looked perturbed and just waited. i mouthed sorry and shrugged. he waved for me to go through the crosswalk.

so i did. as i drove by him he hauled off and kicked my car.

it's pretty easy to escalate a situation when it is not necessary. mistakes happen. i've driven on the hill fast when i was having a good time with friends. i should have been yelled at, but i shouldn't have my car kicked or hit with a cane. if that's what happened, it's not too much different for the driver to then (wrongly) escalate by getting out and fighting.

it's all stupid, and unnecessary. but in cases like that, there isn't a clear wrong party at fault.

Posted by infrequent | February 6, 2008 11:33 AM
29

When people get into a car, the boundaries of their corporeal identity, or "personal space", magically extend from bumper to bumper. This is why drivers, deep in this mode, consider it worthy punishment to beat someone who beat their car. To them, the beating done to their fender truly was done to themselves. It's not about property - it's a personal affront, a real invasion.

This is especially evident when one taps a car from a bike in traffic to get attention. We are socialized to consider this the gravest affront, deserving of violence. This is, of course, why it's so much damn fun to do. Catch me if you can, fuckers.

Posted by Colin | February 6, 2008 11:36 AM
30

@29. for most people, there's nothing magic about it, and it's not an extension of personal space. it's that it's your properly, and someone else shouldn't damage it especially when you have not damaged them, or something of their's.

it's why people care if their car is keyed when they are not it in, and care if a window is broken even if they are not around.

as a driver who has had a cyclist damage my car to "teach me a lesson" i did not deserve or need to learn, i can understand that there might be two sides to this story.

@27. the speeding car might have come to a stop at a light? i don't know. i tend to believe the walkers in this story more. but hearing a plausible explanation from another viewpoint (something that happened before the witnesses arrived) causes a little doubt.

speeding down olive? not cool. passing on olive using the oncoming lanes? totally inappropriate. but that does not justify getting your car hit/damaged by a cane (IF that is what happened). beating up someone who damaged your car? not cool? beating them with a cane? inappropriate. both both parties were acting as vigilantes as they saw fit.

gay epitaphs? that just makes me really dislike one of the groups, and doubt their story a little more. but who knows if that even happened anymore, or was the primary motivation for the assault. or maybe it was, and everything else was an excuse. who knows?

Posted by infrequent | February 6, 2008 11:56 AM
31

I was up in the U-district a couple weeks ago and was slowly inching up to see around a bus that was on my right side. Some kid slapped my car as he ran by to get on the bus and then kept looking back at me all tough like he wanted to fight.

At first I was pissed, but I was already late for an appointment and decided against escalating it further. As I drove away though, I was able to look at it with some perspective.

When I was a kid who rode the bus, I was always pissed that I was taking the bus too. I immediately remembered doing the same thing in Pioneer Square in my early twenties and remembered feeling rightous because it was a big gas-guzzling SUV.

I looked at it as some probably deserved Karma and let it go. Some day, that kid is going to be able to afford a car and some other pissed off bus rider is going to kick it. Hopefully he remembers hitting mine before he gets out to fight.

Posted by Clint | February 6, 2008 11:58 AM
32

Yo, Colin: mind if I "tap" your fucking bicycle with my car to get your attention, then? Sounds like fun. Might catch part of your leg while I'm at it, though.

Posted by Fnarf | February 6, 2008 11:59 AM
33

fnarf FTW.

Posted by Bellevue Ave | February 6, 2008 12:00 PM
34

@30

I'm not talking about burning your house down and then pointing out that I didn't actually hurt you.

I'm not even saying I would ever key or smash or dent or anything like that.

But boy do I thump. I thump hoods, bumpers, roofs, windows, anything within easy thumping distance whenever someone gives me the reason. And for that, I've been threatened and run off the road.

Fine. I understand that people are nuts about their cars (this is what I was trying to get across), and that I have my own sense of righteous injustice. I'm taking the risk by screwing with people's sense of personal space. The difference here is that while I may be acting offensively, drivers frequently act violently, even homocidally. I ain't killin' anyone with my bicycle, or my harmless rapping on your hood.

Posted by Colin | February 6, 2008 12:01 PM
35

Fnarf illustrates the difference here perfectly. The stakes of my petulant self-righteousness are so low, a violent reaction is just unwarranted.

Thanks for your support, Mr. Fnarf!

Posted by Colin | February 6, 2008 12:04 PM
36

clint, i actually spit at a car's open window when they damn nearly mowed me down in a cross walk at boren and pike. boren and pike, 8th and pike, are 2 streets where people just arent paying attention when turning or they miss the light completely.

the best part is, i hit the driver who then pulled around the block and then we argued about him running a red light. he then attempted to spit on me and got mostly his own car. you cant be halfway into the intersection with me halfway through the cross walk (while i had the walking man) and not be running the red.

Posted by Bellevue Ave | February 6, 2008 12:04 PM
37

clint, you are still immature if you are still "thumping" cars -- even if they are in the wrong.

you too, bellevue.

but we are talking about hitting with a cane, which would probably leave a mark. it is unsafe and vandalism. a thump? fine. let it go. but if you used your kryptonite to bash a window or dent a panel?

but hitting a moving vehicle while you are riding? i did that once because a car was merging into me -- like honking a horn. if you do it out of anger you are just endangering yourself or becoming a vigilante.

Posted by infrequent | February 6, 2008 12:13 PM
38

Tom Colonna is one of my best friends, which I state to acknowledge bias, but: If they started the fight, why would they draw more attention to it, and themselves, by reporting the incident to KIRO? And if the car was speeding and driving erratically, how could Brad have hit it with his cane, unless it came dangerously close to them while they were in the street? It doesn't add up.

Posted by Aislinn | February 6, 2008 12:33 PM
39

@25: Wow, how eloquent.

Posted by Rotten666 | February 6, 2008 12:35 PM
40

i'm not trying to explain it, nor do i have to. i just want to hear the other side. if they never come forward, i'll tend to believe the side that did come forward.

Posted by infrequent | February 6, 2008 12:48 PM
41

Beating anyone who can't walk without a cane is pretty fucking cowardly, regardless of the circumstances.

Posted by Gitai | February 6, 2008 12:54 PM
42

@41. one would think so. unless (and i'm not saying this is what happened here) the person with the cane started by hitting the other person. in that case, suddenly, both parties seem wrong.

Posted by infrequent | February 6, 2008 1:04 PM
43

@12 Whoop Ass alphamales are tired in say, Boston or Long Beach but they are far from tired in Seattle. This city is in desperate need of more whoopass alphamales to level out the balance of terror in this city.

Motherfuckers walking around hitting cars and spending woof tickets in the crosswalk with a sense of impunity are a prime example of the many shitty byproducts this overly passive environment can contribute to. People are much more civil in places where the threat of reprisal is certain.

You'd be surprised what a simple fat lip can do for a man's sense of protocol. It's quite neighborly.

Fist City is quickly usurping Cheekyburgh as the county seat out here, or hadn't you noticed? Start behaving like someone who doesn't need to be reminded they aren't special. Get friendlier faster. This city's evolving and there's going to be a run on wholesale card pulling in increasing numbers. You don't want to be wearing last years fashionably obtuse loudmouth and look of affected bewilderment when you get your lights punched out. Better to have on your new and approved look of determined resolve and quiet strength when you walk your seemingly entitled ass across the street with designs on doing some chest thumping. Or maybe just let "turn the other cheek" apply to the mohty, demonstrative dickeheads who know they don't want to get smacked around as much as you'd like it to apply to the dude who smacks people around for talking trash and throwing shit at his vehicle.

Our police force isn't here to sort out your petty fucking fisticuffs. Handle that yourself or hold your goddamned tongue, you spoiled, priveleged fucks.

Posted by Relax, Violence Is Just A Language | February 6, 2008 1:33 PM
44

@31,

What were the circumstances? Did he have reason to think you couldn't see him?

I can't tell you how many turning cars (right or left, it doesn't matter) have almost run me over because the driver was determined not to look for pedestrians. Last night, I crossed in front of a driver who eyes were glued to traffic to his left. When I made it into his field of vision (fully intending to give him the stink eye), he immediately looked to his right to avoid making eye contact with me/acknowledge that if traffic cleared up one second earlier, he'd have run me over. How fucking pathetic is that?

Posted by keshmeshi | February 6, 2008 1:55 PM
45

@43. i imagine you were in one of the seven cars that drove by while i was in the crosswalk at harrison and 15th last night, refusing to stop for a pedestrian. how arrogant of me to think i should use my right of way!

people really need to chill out.

Posted by infrequent | February 6, 2008 2:13 PM
46

Yes keshmeshi. He had reason to believe I couldn't see him. I couldn't see him. I had previously looked left and nobody was there. The fact that I didn't see him was actually pretty bothersome to me. As I drove away, I thought it must have been because there was no light at the intersection and he was wearing dark clothes. He was also running to try and catch the bus on my right, so he may have come up from behind, or just been really moving.

And infrequent, I no longer thump cars, but am still occassionally immature.

Posted by Clint | February 6, 2008 2:50 PM
47

Hi everyone. I'm chiming in because I'm one of the witnesses. I see a lot of back-and-forth regarding car vs bike/pedestrian rules-of-the-road type stuff. The situation unfolded without any of the ambiguities described here. There was no mistaking right and wrong.

The car was forced to stop near the pedestrians. The pedestrians were able to get out of the lane. The car then DELIBERATELY TURNED AND ACCELERATED TOWARDS THE PEDESTRIANS, who were no longer in the traffic lane. The car stopped, but not before the pedestrians FEARED FOR THEIR LIVES. Everything occurring afterwards was a direct result of the ATTEMPTED VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER. Based on the insane driving I saw, it is HIGHLY LIKELY that the driver was intoxicated.

All of the controversial aspects including the ALLEGED cane slap to the bumper, slurs, etc, happened AFTER the above action, which was instigated solely by the driver of the vehicle.

Posted by Mr Friendly | February 6, 2008 6:28 PM
48

Thanks, Mr. Friendly.

Posted by David Schmader | February 6, 2008 8:41 PM
49

having had a vehicle gun the engine while pointed at me, i can related to the fear and anger that results. in my case, the driver was even joking about it afterwards, "I scared you, didn't I!?!?!" he cheerfully shouted out the window. "Don't be mad! I was just joking!"

a little common sense should dictate that you do not then proceed to attack said vehicle.

i'm not sure why mr. witness friendly says the ALLEGED cane slap... were you a witness or not?

but a cane slap at that point is not self-defense. it is venting anger. you cannot stop a car from hitting you with a cane.

mr friendly's testimony does sound possible (though i'd still like to hear the other side). it leads me to think even more that the driver and passengers were complete assholes and the instigators. but it also leads me to believe that the pedestrians still might have acted in a way that escalated the situation. might have.

Posted by infrequent | February 7, 2008 9:31 AM
50

Everyone's debating which side was at fault, but the more we learn, the clearer it seems that testosterone-induced ass-hattery was the rule for everyone involved.

Posted by lostboy | February 7, 2008 9:53 AM
51

Just saw a post for "canning jars" on the Craigslist Free Stuff feed and read it as "caning cars."

Time to stop following this thread, I think.

Posted by lostboy | February 7, 2008 9:58 AM
52

Thank you Mr. Friendly.

Posted by Haven Skys | February 7, 2008 4:07 PM

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