City Violence Riles Rainier Beach Community
posted by on July 16 at 9:00 AM
Last night, I attended the community forum held at the Rainier Beach Presbyterian Church to discuss the murder of Rainier Beach resident James Paroline, who was attacked last week while tending a traffic circle in front of his house. Before the frustrated residents sat a handful of elected officials—including Richard McIver, fresh from his court date—as well as Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske and a sergeant with the South Precinct (didn’t catch his name). City Councilmember Bruce Harrell even took a minute to vent in front of the crowd. “I am so angry,” he said. “What causes that kind of disregard for life? This is not our city.”
Early in the meeting, residents focused on the role the victim’s race might have played in the crime and emphasized the diversity of the neighborhood (Brian Keith Brown, the suspect in the crime, is a 28-year-old black male; Paroline was a 60-year-old white male). Jim Dermody, who heads Seattle’s homocide unit, said that race “will be a focus throughout the investigation.”
The meeting was an opportunity for some Rainier Beach residents to explain to their elected officials just how frustrated they are with the crime that plagues their neighborhood, and the new direction gave Chief Kerlikowske and the Councilmembers a chance to talk up their new contract with the Seattle Police Officer’s Guild. When one resident claimed that the neighborhood has “essentially been de-policed,” the officers said the South Precinct expected to see a jump from a total of 80 officers to 105 officers within the next year. For now, however, several residents made clear the point that, for the time being, there simply aren’t enough officers around to make them feel safe.
Still, what seemed to bother residents who came to the meeting most was the way different demographics interact in Rainier Valley, and cited Paroline’s murder as an extreme example of a growing tension in the neighborhood. One neighbor pointed out—and it was clear to me just by looking around the room—that the distinguishing line between older group of neighbors, who’ve lived in the area for decades, and the younger generation is drawn thick. Another noted the tension created by stark economic diversity, and, most of all, residents seemed to fear that the death of Paroline is a sign of some kind of racial rift in the neighborhood.
Another woman, Amanda Williams, stood up to speak on behalf of Brown and the women who initiated the altercation with Paroline. “He’s not a hateful person,” she said. “He’s not a racist.”
Others at the meeting focused on getting kids off the streets and into other programs, which is getting harder to do, they say, as city money is siphoned elsewhere. A couple of neighbors asserted that new community centers and better oversight at schools could make a big difference in deterring juvenile crime.
Paroline’s sister, Kathleen Paroline Vernon, spoke at the end of the gathering, saying that, while it was unfortunate that the emotions expressed at the meeting were triggered by her brother’s death, it was the kind of community spirit he had always wanted to see. “James would have wanted to be a catalyst for something like this,” she said.
"He’s not a hateful person,” she said. “He’s not a racist."
Right, he's just a misguided, misunderstood youth who just happened to murder an old man who was gardening.
@1: May very will be true.
However, we moved from Columbia City in part because of an older African-American resident (and her kids/grandkids) calling us faggots and complaining about our friends parking in front of their house or visiting us. After being robbed twice, we decided we the had opposition to outsiders moving in, particularly homos. Worked on us; we now live in a quiet neighborhood in W Seattle.
Speaking of the robbery, the facts were that the robber entered out house while we slept. SPD's response was to send a car 4 hours later and when we asked about the contents that were stolen we were informed that it was up to the insurance company to press charges if the person was caught since they would be the one with the loss. SPD is a joke with responses like that. Since that day I've thought Kerlikowske whould be shown the door.
SPD and council have ceded parts of this city to crime. Let's face that simple fact.
so where's charles on this? what, no pontificating from the resident marxist? why is he not framing this as the black man's response to centuries of oppression from the white man? or analyzing this as the black response to white gentrification? hmm?
Didn't the original story say the old man slapped the girls who started talking to him in the first place?
"Jim Dermody, who heads Seattle’s homocide unit,"
... even if there were such a unit, that would be a rather glib way to refer to it.
hmm everyone says they want an honest conversation about race but then the conversation starts and it only goes so far.
1. if you want integration, whites will move into black neighborhoods, often raising property values. This is good for black property owners who finally see some return on their investment. Instead of not. But then you always read these articles about how some other folks don't like it that "the neighborhood is changing."
2. "Brian Keith Brown, the suspect in the crime, is a 28-year-old black male; Paroline was a 60-year-old white male."
Yes this was very carefully avoided in the first posts on this incident.
But if you start citing statistics be very careful because allegations of racism will come right back at you.
3. Community centers and all that stuff -- great but at bottom this guy had no reason to kill someone, period. You don't get to smack someone like that even if you see him "squirting" your friends relative. The simple fact that this is somehow treated diferently from any other assault is somewhat troubling.
Hmmm
Is it me or do all of you also just assume that every time you hear of violence in Seattle it is almost invariably committed by a black man?
Can we please start calling a spade a spade?
When will all of you pull your heads out of your asses and start accepting that society has a problem with its young African American poplulation? Why is it that we see in such incredibly high proportions that it is always some black waste of sperm committing violence? WHY?
I think it is high time to start discriminating. I've simply had IT! Enough is enough.
Washington needs to enact race based legislation. The time has come for the non black populations that live peacefully in this state to take a stand for themselves and mandate that any violent felony crime committed by blacks require a one strike and you are out policy. One felony conviction involving assault, and you receive a life sentence with no parole. No passing GO, no Getting out of Jail free, no parole, no second chance.
PERIOD.
Enough of this SHIT!
Peaceful, law abiding citizens should NOT have to deal with the niggaz that ruin society for the rest of us. Yes I said NIGGAZ because that is simply what they are.
Blacks. Nuf said
On our street, road ragers have hurled fantastically scary insults and slurs at pedestrians walking in the street (no sidewalks), hurled food, paint, and chemicals onto cars, slashed tires, driven over circle and chicane plantings, etc. In one case, a gun was drawn by one driver because neither driver would yield in a one-lane section of the street. If you think that a traffic circle murder can't happen elsewhere in Seattle, just wait--these people are driving everywhere. The Mayor, City Council, SDOT, and police have no idea what's going on.
@7, WTF is wrong with you?
not murder yet. the guy died. it's a suspicious death. if the suspect is convicted of murder, then it's murder. not until then. remember due process. that said, the knucklehead who punched him will probably be convicted of some sort of murder charge.
@4
No, in the original story the girl was splashed with water from a hose after the girls circled the victim and screamed in his face. The accusation of being struck came out from one of the girls after they were caught lying to the police.
@7, I know you're just trolling, but what does race have to do with it? If you're tired of violence and crime and think your punishment is justified, then there's no reason to only apply it to blacks -- apply it to everyone! I'm sick of crime too, but if you're going to lock them up forever with no parole, just kill them. Lots cheaper.
@13 No not trolling. Just venting really.
In answer to your question. I'd agree that the new law should be pushed out to all races. I'm not really racist. I'm just trying to show that a HUGE part of society is simply tired of Blacks crying racism, discrimination, being held back by "the man", etc etc, and then all we see and hear are black men committing ALMOST ALL of the violent assaults in this county. ENOUGH!
I would love to simply execute them all instead of locking them up, however our silly liberal state would rather nanny and rehabilitate them. I'm sorry, but once they are adults, they cannot be rehab'd into society. They are simply vermin that need exterminating.
The time has come for our peaceful society to start taking control back of our streets.
What will it take for all of you who think I am trolling to wake up to the truth?
The time has come. Enough is enough.
@13 - Please don't engage.
@13 I hit submit too soon. I also meant to say that I wanted to apply this only to blacks as a huge neon sign that society is simply especially tired of the DISPROPORTIONATE amount of blacks committing the majority of violence on our streets. By creating the law specifically for them, they might better understand that they are being held to a higher standard of conduct based on the previous decades of over the top violence. If the violence in those neighborhoods is escalating, we as a society must take measures to show that the new laws are targeted at the likely offenders.
I have a prime example that I wanted to share that happened last night. For the first time in over 6 months, I needed to take a trip thru Rainier. My friend purchased a used scooter and needed to drive it down to Renton for some repairs. This involved us needing to drive it from Cap Hill all the ways down to Renton via Rainier Ave. During that 1 hour trip, we were cat called, flashed gangs signs at, and challenged on 3 seperate occassions. We needed to stop to add oil to the engine. We stopped at the Safeway grocery store on Rainier and Henderson. My female friend who was following us in a car, parked near the scooter while a buddy and I went in to buy the oil. In that 10 minutes she was approached by 2 seperate black men trying to either hustle her or steal the scooter. Note that this car and scooter were parked by themselves off to the side and further out with no cars around. There was ZERO reason for anyone to walk up to the vehicles. Neither of them thought there was anyone near the vehicles. She was visibly shaken when we came back out, and was actually on the phone starting to dial the police.
This happened last night at 8 PM in daylight.
Next time we'll be packing guns when going down in that 'hoood. Enough is enough. I won't be assaulted like that man was.
First and foremost-
To Is it Racist to speak the truth:
Why don't you post your real name you fucking moron? If you're such a bad ass vigilante, post your actual name, so if anyone in Cap Hill runs into you they'll know right away you're an uneducated bigot. Piece of shit.
Second:
It's been proven time and again that more cops DON'T DO SHIT to help crime problems. More patrol cars are simply responsive, they have very little success preventing crimes. If we want to help end crime, why don't we make the schools in Rainier Beach worth going to, build community centers, and give these a kids a fucking chance.
Third:
Nice work Chris. You're the man.
Oh sheesh.... What a conversation.
I work for City Light, and my district goes from "The CD" down to Genesee. Before I had that district, I worked Genesee down to Rainier Beach. If anyone thinks that those are "bad" neighborhoods, they don't get out much - or at least they've never spent time in a rust belt city.
But you know what? Bad kids don't come from bad schools, or the lack of community centers - they come from bad parents. No one wants to say it, but that's the truth.
@17:
I agree the cops aren't capable under current circumstances to prevent crime - they are too strapped and community issues, whether in the Rainier Valley or
I also agree the schools vary depending on where they are in the city. This has to change and kids have to be given both scholastic options as well as opportunities to pursue after school. That's the carrot.
There is discrimination across the board. Are African Americans discriminated against in Seattle? Yes. Have I seen and endured discrimination against me and others by African Americans because of their sexual orientation? Absolutely.
I am sympathetic to the African American community because of the injustices of the past. My sympathy is tempered by the injustices imposed within the African American community because of sexual orientation, whether it is directed within its own community, or outwards.
Gawd. This is really fucked up.
I guess all the law abiding citizens who blew up the Federal Building in Oklahoma City and the law abiding citizens who are serial killers and the law abiding citizens who shot up Columbine and the law abiding citizens who pose as pastors and marry child brides and the law abiding citizens who troll racist remarks on the Stranger don’t count. Not to mention the war crimes committed by Bush. Clearly, it’s the blacks.
I just kind of have a peaceful belief that everyone is fucked up, regardless of race. I mean, really, isn’t that what MLK’s dream is all about? That we're ALL fucked up?
Come on, let's hold hands, ya racist.
"He’s not a hateful person,” she said.
Oh really?
From the P.I. today: In June 2004, Brown head-butted a woman in the laundry room of her Renton apartment building. The victim, who had dated Brown's then-girlfriend, told police Brown "jumped on her and choked her with such force that she could not breathe and thought she was going to die," according to court documents.
This guy is a piece of shit and probably deserves a fate worse than prison. End of story.
#4&12
I believe they through a Big Gulp sized water on him, then he sprayed them with his hose, and then they went and told on him to one of their thug boyfriends.
From the stories, the victim was liked by all his neighbors. he wasn't the neighborhood crank yelling at kids to get off his lawn.
As far as race, this could have been about an elderly black man killed by a bunch of white kids up in Lynwood.
Well, since we're having such an intelligent discussion about race in Seattle, specifically Rainier Beach: isn't this the area where several young black men have been shot recently? Did the city respond to the community's concerns then about lack of police presence? Was it all over the news as this case was?
No, to my recall it was barely mentioned, because most people just take it for granted that young black men are going to die by violence. Mr. Paroline's death was all over the news in comparison, and I think it's because he was white and presumed non-violent.
All these deaths are tragedies, whether the people killed are labeled gang members or not. I hope the city will actually respond to the community after this and do something proactive, but I don't have much hope.
Finally to "Is it Racist to speak the truth?": You are not speaking the truth, you are totally full of shit but you are racist. Next time try finding some statistics that back up your paranoid assumptions.
I'm sorry to be feeding the troll, but I'm a short white girl who lived in the CD for 3 years; I often walk around the CD and sometimes Rainier, mostly in the daytime now but I used to walk around at night. Even if I did get propositioned by a black man, I could just say "no, not interested" as one human to another and I never felt threatened in those interactions. But maybe I've got more balls than this "Is it Racist..." person.
I feel the young women are just as culpable in this.
War crimes committed by Bush?
Dave Coffman is a bleeding heart liberal who needs to understand that you should be pointing the finger at the perpetrator as opposed to the one defending themselves.
People like you, who think race is never an issue, are so far removed from society, that you don't seem to get anything because of your PC views and your unwillingness to stir up the pot.
The fact of the matter is, I can guarantee you that the little black bitches who started this shit, went back to their house and told that black bastard thuglife, that some "white boy" sprayed them with water and conveniently left out how they poured water on him first.
Not to mention, this poor guy was trying to better the neighbourhood. But I guess most blacks wouldn't know anything about that. How do I know? TAKE A TRIP THROUGH A BLACK NEIGHBOURHOOD SOMETIME.
You, Mr. Coffman, are like the wigger who talks like a gang banger, and then someone calls you out for your fake accent and replies with, "What does 'talking black' mean?", simply because you want to ignore the reality of fact, that blacks are the most racist people on earth.
Watch Sanford and Son and see how they make fun of every ethinicity from the white cop to the Puerto Rican neighbour. Listen to the majority of rap music. Watch Def Comedy Jam. Blacks are so racist it's not even funny.
Then when Al Sharpton has the balls to call himself a "civil rights advocate", when in actuality he's a "black advocate" and a racist at that.
GET REAL, PAL.
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