Tag Archives: Seattle

Man Charged With Hate Crimes After Attacking Gay Couple in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

HATE CRIMES: Gay Couple Assaulted, Stabbed In Seattle

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A Seattle man has been charged with a hate crime after yelling anti-gay slurs and , spit in the face and stabbing a man for holding hands with another man in the gay friendly section of Capitol Hill.

Shortly after 10:00 p.m.  on Sunday July 22, the two victims were walking together holding hands when they were approached by Castor Kwak, 33, who started calling them “faggots” and  “queers”.

The couple approached Kwak over the slurs and a verbal altercation ensued, police said. As bystanders held Kwak and the victims apart, Kwak allegedly spit in one the victim’s faces. The victim then punched Kwak, and the two engaged in a physical fight.

Kwak was holding a glass bottle during the fight that broke on the ground. He allegedly used pieces of the broken bottle to stab the victim  A Seattle police officer passing by noticed the fight and broke it up. He found the victim with cuts to his face and body, but he refused to be taken to the hospital.

According to the police report, after the men were separated, the suspect told police multiple times he was attacked the victims only because the men are gay.

Hate crimes in the United States have increased to a point not seen in recent history since Donald Trump took office, according to a new statistical report released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Who Will Buy? – One of the Few Remaining Gay Sex Spaces Seattle’s Bathouse Club Z for Sale

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One of the few remaining gay bathouses in America, Seattle Washington’s Club Z in the Capitol Hill section is up for sale.

Here is the realtor’s description for the $2.15 million listing for 1117 Pike:

Built in 1906 this three story commercial building is for sale for the first time in almost 40 years. The Pike Building is located just above downtown Seattle in an A+ Capitol Hill location. This offers a Buyer the rare opportunity to purchase a pride-of-ownership property located only 3 blocks from downtown Seattle.

“The property offers endless potential for an investor to redevelop the property or maintain the existing use,” the marketing copy concludes.

The building has been home to a gay bathhouse for decades. Today known as Club Z, (originally called the  “Zodiac Social Club”) the sex club is one of the few left in the country.

The Stranger’s Christopher Frizzelle wrote a rather sex-negative history of the Club Z building’s place in Seattle — a mix of early 20th century hotels, World War II internment, AIDS, drugs, and sex — as the property was being planned for demolition and development in the early 2000s. A project to create a multi-story condominium development began the permitting process but never made it past planning phases. The property continues to be held by the same real estate investor who purchased it in the 1970s.

In January Chicago’s landmark gay bathhouse Man’s Country closed after 44 years in business.

Shall we start a $2.15 million dollar GoFundMe campaign to buy it and save our historic gay sex spaces?

Seattle Business Owner Speaks Out After Becoming A Victim Of A Gay Hate Crime:

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A Seattle business owner is speaking out after becoming the target of a hate crime.

 “I’ve never had to hide for one minute who I was in this neighborhood,” said Aaron Amundsen, co-owner of Emerald City Tattoo and Supply in the Lake City neighborhood. OF Seattle Washington.

 One morning, a week after the election, his business partner, Tony Johns, found a note on Amundsen’s windshield.

The note read, “Hey faggot . We won, so you better watch you’re [sic] back. You’re [sic] days are numberd [sic]. Make America STRAIGHT again to make it GREAT again. You will see, you cocksucker.”

 “It was like someone punched me in the gut,” said Amundsen, “because I had never experience in my life and I’ve been out since high school. I’ve never experienced something so threatening.”

 The Seattle Police LGBT liaison, Officer Jim Ritter, who started the Safe Place program, calls it malicious harassment, a hate crime. 

 “It is clearly a threat based on a threat of the victim’s sexually identity,” said Ritter. “It’s pre-meditated and the victim was targeted.”

Amundson felt a responsibility to speak out.

 “I believe it’s my absolute right as a citizen, and as an upstanding person, to say wait a minute – this is not acceptable and don’t let anyone tell you it is,” he said..

 After news of the incident started spreading on social media, Seattle Police decided to host a community discussion about it later this week.

Welcome to Trump’s AmeriKKKa

Seattle Business Owner Speaks Out After Becoming A Victim Of A Gay Hate Crime:

Sexual Assault Allegations Against SCOTUS Nominee Brett Kavanaugh Become Public

Seattle Police Arrest Suspected Arsonist Of Gay Nightclub “Neighbours”

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On January 1st an unknown man poured gasoline over a staircase inside the gay bar Neighbours and lit it on fire as the nightclub was packed with more than 750 New Years Eve revelers. The blaze was quickly discovered and extinguished before it could spread, and the bar was safely evacuated and miraculously one was injured.  Detectives from SPD’s Arson/Bomb Squad, along with members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, have since been investigating the case.

Yesterday Musab Mohamed Masmari was arrested as police say he was on his way to the airport. Masmari, was booked into King County Jail for investigation of arson, according to police.

Masmari has a record of Seattle assaults and arrests that increased in frequency starting last spring. Since the January 1st incident, several business owners in north Capitol Hill told CHS they have had run-ins with the man.

Last April Masmari put a cigarette out in a man’s cheek as he entered the Lookout bar,  “He was trying to come in with a cigarette, and the guy just told him he couldn’t do that, so he put it out in his cheek,” said Stevie Gayle, who was bartending at the Lookout that night.

A fight broke out outside the bar, but Gayle said Masmari fled before the police arrived.

Other gay business owner said that he and others were forced to “86″ Masmari from their venues after run-ins in recent months.

Here’s is the report on the arrest from SPD:

Seattle Police made an arrest this morning of a 30-year-old suspect wanted for the arson at Neighbours on January 1st.

This morning, Seattle Police arrested the 30-year-old man near Seattle as he was enroute to the airport. Detectives from our Arson/Bomb Squad, working along with members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), have been investigating this case since the early morning hours of January 1st. Detectives would like to thank the public for all the tips they have received on the person of interest. Following his arrest, the suspect was interviewed by detectives and later booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Arson.