UPDATE: 1:01 PM
A SPD spokesperson tells me that the case is not currently being investigated as a hate crime and that he was unaware of anybody having yet contacted the department to report such an incident. Should the victim or a witness come forward, the spokeperson said the SPD is ready to further investigate the incident.
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There has been a lot of concern about an increase in hate crimes in the neighborhood but it goes beyond Capitol Hill. In addition to the arrest of a West Seattle harassment suspect Tuesday, CHS has discovered this police incident report describing a beating that occurred outside a much-talked-about party last week in Fremont. We are also pursuing data related to hate crime investigations by the Seattle Police Department but our records request has been delayed a second time.
According to the SPD report, around 1:51 AM last Friday morning, an officer responded to a disturbance outside an event at the Fremont Film warehouse on N 35th. That night, the warehouse hosted a party thrown by D List magazine for its second anniversary featuring DJ Sam Ronson. What occurred on the street outside is not clear. Elizabeth Rockett, a 20-year-old writer and photographer, is calling the incident a gay bashing and has posted pictures of the unidentified victim on her Twitter feed. Celebrity DJ Ronson also wrote about the incident online: "sorry to vent, but that picture above was taken after a girl was attacked at a party i dj'd in seattle, simply for being gay. it's disgusting."
The responding officer said he was unable to locate the victim and describes a scenario in which nobody was able to provide details of the person or persons who beat the woman. Included in the report are details about two men the officer talked to that night, two white 23-year-olds, one from Seattle, the other from Tacoma. The police report's narrative section is detailed here. You will note it describes a different interpretation of the night's events than what has been written about by Rockett and Ronson.
This incident was recorded via my in car DVR. On 05-15-2009 at 0154 hours I was dispatched to a disturbance at 1~ N 35 St. The call came out as a male outside picking fights and fighting with security. I arrived and several citizens pointed up the street stating that incident had occurred the direction they were pointing. I went down the street and saw one subject who appeared to be unconscious being carried onto a bus. I told the guys to put her down. Fire was called to check the welfare of the victims involved. I contacted several subjects. Nobody seemed to have seen how the incident had been started and I couldn't find any witnesses who were identifying a common suspect. I identified several subjects who were in some way involved and allowed everybody to leave the scene.
It appears to me from the witnesses that I talked to that a female was dancing on the stage and when the song ended the bouncers went to remove everybody off of the stage so that new people could dance on the stage. One female did not want to get off of the stage and she tried to hit the bouncer. This female was taken outside where she started a fight with another staff member. Other people in the area saw the fight start and the disturbance grew exponentially. I was unable to locate a victim or get any positive identification of a suspect.
You can also view the full incident report here. Redactions are done by the SPD. CHS has added additional redactions in sections where the SPD redaction could still be read.
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