A man was seriously hurt and four boys ages 14-17 were in juvenile detention after a hate-filled rampage through downtown Bellingham early Friday, according to details of the incident released by police.
A 26-year-old man was hit in the head and arm with large rocks thrown by the group of teens, who threatened to kill him and shouted racial and homophobic slurs in the attack first reported by The Bellingham Herald.
“What is exceptionally troubling in this case is the young age of the suspects and the violence by which they exhibited their hate, randomly at strangers for no apparent reason other than their perceptions of race and sexual orientation,” Bellingham Police Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
Murphy said the boys had reportedly harassed several other people in the downtown area early Friday.
“All four teens were identified and taken into custody. There had been earlier reports made to the security officers of the four throwing things at people in the downtown corridor,” she said.
Friday’s attack began near Waypoint Park, the starting point for this weekend’s Pride in Bellingham Parade and related festivities.
It also comes as LGBTQIA+ people are facing increased harassment across the nation from evangelical Christians and far-right extremists and have been the target of laws aimed at limiting their civil rights.
Names of the victims weren’t released, and the names of the suspects were withheld because they are minors, Murphy said.
She said the boys were:
▪ Age 14, Burlington
▪ Age 14, Ferndale
▪ Age 14, Bellingham
▪ Age 17, Bellingham
Their victims were described as two 26-year-old men and one 29-year-old man.
In the incident reported at 3:24 a.m. Friday outside the Granary Building, the four teens began slapping a 26-year-old man with their shirts and tried to hit him with a Razor scooter, Murphy told in an email.
They also threw large rocks at the man, causing swelling and open wounds on his head and arm, she said.
He later sought medical attention on his own, Murphy said.
During the attack, the victim took the scooter away and used it to defend himself, finally tossing the scooter into Bellingham Bay, Murphy said.
All four boys followed the victim as he walked toward home, continuing to use homophobic and racial slurs.
“Victim 1 called a friend, Victim 3, who responded to the downtown area with Victim 2 and found the group of teenagers,” Murphy said.
“When Victim 3 confronted the group about their behavior toward Victim 1, all four suspects began to make threats to shoot and stab Victim 3 and Victim 2. They made comments like ‘I’ll stab you,’ ‘I’ll shoot you,’ and ‘I’ll come (expletive) find you,’” Murphy said.
The incident was called a felony assault and hate crime in the online police activity log.
A total of 12 hate crimes were reported to Whatcom County police agencies in 2021, the latest year that data was available from the FBI.
Last November, a swastika was painted on a sidewalk at Waypoint Park.
Murphy said that the attack qualifies as a hate crime under Washington state law because the boys injured one man and threatened to hurt or kill two other men based on the suspects’ perception of their victims’ race and sexual orientation.
A hate crime is more serious than a bias incident because it involves an assault or threat of injury, she said.
“The Bellingham Police Department is committed to investigating hate crime offenses thoroughly and completely to bring justice to those who are targeted by hate. If you or a loved one have been the victim of a hate crime, please come forward and report it to us, so there can be a complete investigation done,” Murphy said.
Crime victims should call 911 for an incident in progress, or the call police non-emergency number of 360-676-6911 to file a report on a crime that occurred in the past, she said.