SEATTLE: A 48 year old man who was arrested on the suspicion of committing a hate crime against US Representative Pramila Jayapal was released from jail.
King County prosecutors said police released him because they couldn’t say with certainty that he told the congresswoman to go back to India or that he threatened to kill her. Court proceedings show Seattle police obtained a temporary Extreme Risk Protection Order to require the man to surrender his firearms and concealed pistol license, refer to concerns about escalating behaviour toward her and increasing mental health struggles.
Casey McNerthney, spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s office said, the investigation is ongoing. Prosecutors have not registered a criminal case, currently don’t have evidence to prove a hate crime was committed, but have 72 hours to file criminal charges against a person in custody. If charges are not filed by then, the person must be released from jail. In E-mail he wrote “In a time of increased political violence, security concerns against any elected official should be taken seriously, as we are doing here, the investigation is ongoing and our office is working with police investigators to make sure we understand the full extent of the suspect’s actions to build the strongest case possible”.
Police arrested the man outside Pramila’s house after she called 911 and reported an unknown person or persons were in a vehicle using obscene language, according to the probable cause statement. She told a dispatcher her husband thought someone may have fired a pellet gun, the statement said.
The man told officers he wanted to purchase an assault-style rifle for protection but denied saying anything about Jayapal’s ethnicity or threatening to kill her. Within 14 days of a temporary protection order being issued, the judge then decides whether to deny or grant a permanent order, which bars the respondent from owning or buying firearms for one year.
