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“We’re like a huge misfit family. We always have the same tables, it’s always the same people, and the same people that come by and buy.”

Olszewski expressed shock at the words that witnesses have said Thompson uttered before the encounter with police.

“Everybody that I’ve talked to at the market, even the customers are (surprised),” she said.

“He never caused an argument at the market, ever. There’s a strict rule, if you show any type of violence, or anger, or racial slurs, you lose your table.”

Racial slurs are completely out of character for Thompson, said Olszewski, noting he has close friends who are not white.

“We have homosexuals, we have transvestites, and he’s never, ever made a comment to anybody,” she said.

Olszewski said flea-market vendors and attendees are also shocked at how Thompson looked in photos captured by witnesses on Saturday.

“He had the most beautiful black hair you could imagine. He didn’t (have a shaved head) last week,” Olszewski said.

“His hair was long and he had just shaved his hair within a few days of going downtown (Saturday).”

Thompson is a talented willow carver who foraged through garbage bins in back alleys and frequented garage sales, collecting gems he sold at the flea market.

Olszewski said it would not be unusual for Thompson to be carrying a pipe, because his backpack was often packed with things he was considering reselling or transforming.

ASIRT, a police oversight agency, is investigating the incident, which left Thompson in critical condition.