A Seattle woman revealed a horrific rape that she suffered at the hands of a homeless man living in a publicly funded encampment, but the response from many on the left was to blame her instead.

The woman, named Lindsey, spoke out about the attack in order to expose the failures in how the city's political leaders are dealing with the homeless issue.

She recalled how she was waiting for a shuttle at a car dealership in May 2018 when she went to use their bathroom. Once inside, she said a man forced his way into her stall and attacked her.

"He grabbed me by my throat and my shoulder and he threw me down on the ground in front of the handicapped stall and we fought for several minutes," Lindsey said in the documentary video.

The man, who is much taller and stronger than Lindsey, overpowered her and raped her.

Employees of the dealership were alerted to the attack and restrained the man until law enforcement arrived. He was found to be evading warrants for his arrest, and living at a city-funded shelter that had neglected to do a background check on him.

Lindsay says she met with city leaders about the attack but they were dismissive about her complaints.

"I think we need to all acknowledge what we're doing isn't working — what we're doing right now is actually harming the city," she said. "And we need stronger leaders. And strong leaders, in my opinion, are out there."

Her video on Facebook has received over 44,000 views in two weeks.

The liberal backlash

As documented by the director of the film, the backlash from many liberal homeless advocates was less than sympathetic to the rape victim.

Feminist journalist Erica Barnett denounced the coverage that news outlets gave to the video, and implied that they only did it because she was blonde and attractive.

The agenda (Rufo's and KIRO's) is to create a false link between a policy—"allowing" homeless people to live outside of government camps or jails—and rape of a (not coincidentally) attractive, blonde woman, who could be "your" daughter, sister, cousin.

— Erica C. Barnett (@ericacbarnett) April 23, 2019

Barnett said they should have ignored the rape victim's account because it would hurt the image of the homeless.

"It is the responsibility of media not to repeat false narratives credulously, even if they are presented in well-lighted studios and with many tears," she tweeted.

Seattle City Council member Lorena Gonzalez agreed, saying that it was irresponsible for the media to "sensationalize" and "create fear" in the community.

"Seattle's activist class seems, then, to have more compassion for transient criminals than for the victims of their crimes," responded Christopher Rufo, the City Journal editor who created the documentary video.

Here's a local news report about the brutal attack:

Rape in car dealership bathroom raises questions about nearby homeless shelter www.youtube.com

[H/T: Hot Air]