Mayor Jimmy Matta was joined by Burien Police Chief Ted Boe, and the Mayor's young cousin and daughter as a press conference in Burien City Hall to discuss the hate crime investigation resulting from an incident this past weekend.

Update July 24 12:25pm

The King County Sheriff said that last night, 07/23/18 around 9 PM, the 62 year old suspect from Burien in the alleged assault of Burien Mary Jimmy Matta turned himself in to Burien Police. He was arrested and subsequently released pending the investigation outcome. Charges are expected to be forwarded to the Prosecutor Office, recommending malicious harassment charges.

Original Post July 23

Burien Mayor Jimmy Matta claims he was the victim of a hate crime this past weekend at the Burien Block Party. The King County Sheriff's office is investigating and said Matta was put in a head lock at the party by a man who said he wouldn’t let “your people” take over, clearly a racial slur. The man is described as a white male in his 60's with a thin build.

in a press release Mayor Matta said he was grabbed by the neck from behind and pushed to the ground by the man.

The Mayor suffered a small laceration on his hand when it struck a fence post during the assault. "But I was concerned he was going to come back with a gun," he said.

The suspect is alleged to have been upset with Ordinance 651, the so called "Sanctuary City" law which states City and Police personnel will not inquire or collect information about a person’s immigration status or religion.

The suspect also has been alleged to have taken issue with Mayor Matta’s Latin heritage.

Matta is the first Latino Mayor in the City of Burien’s 25-year history. Immediately following the incident, Mayor Matta reported the assault to Burien police officers who were present at the event. Burien Police have initiated an assault/hate crime investigation.

"It's the national political atmosphere that has caused this," Matta said. He explained that he is an American citizen born of Guatemalan heritage and that he "has to prove I'm an American citizen every day."

He explained, "There's nothing I can do to change the color of my skin, the color of my hair, the language that I speak. There's nothing I can do. This is the way I was born."

He said he believes in the right to free speech but "do not become physical. There's no room for that in our country."

The Mayor said his family has faced abuse previously. His uncle was assaulted with brass knuckles and his wife and daughter were followed home. His yard signs were run over during the campaign but he said, "I thought those things were behind us."

He had two previous encounters with the same individual who has not yet been arrested. In one he was attending an event mourning the death of a young woman when he was verbally abused and told "The blood's on your hands because you support a sanctuary city." In the second encounter he was told by the same man, "I'm gonna run against you." to which Matta said, "You have every right," but went on to explain he knew from then on should not give the man any eye contact or acknowledgement.

The Mayor urged others to call the police if they feel threatened and Burien Police Chief Ted Boe said no special precautions or extra security have yet been requested the Mayor.

Burien Municipal Code is applied through reference to the Revised Code of Washington which regards hate crimes as a Class C Felony RCW 9!.36.080 Malicious harassament (see below). When asked, Chief Boe was not clear how the case might be charged but if the suspect is charged under the hate crime statutes the penalty could be up to 5 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines.

RCW 9A.36.080 Malicious harassment—Definition and criminal penalty.

(1) A person is guilty of malicious harassment if he or she maliciously and intentionally commits one of the following acts because of his or her perception of the victim's race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or mental, physical, or sensory handicap:

(a) Causes physical injury to the victim or another person;

(b) Causes physical damage to or destruction of the property of the victim or another person; or

(c) Threatens a specific person or group of persons and places that person, or members of the specific group of persons, in reasonable fear of harm to person or property. The fear must be a fear that a reasonable person would have under all the circumstances. For purposes of this section, a "reasonable person" is a reasonable person who is a member of the victim's race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, or sexual orientation, or who has the same mental, physical, or sensory handicap as the victim. Words alone do not constitute malicious harassment unless the context or circumstances surrounding the words indicate the words are a threat. Threatening words do not constitute malicious harassment if it is apparent to the victim that the person does not have the ability to carry out the threat.

(2) In any prosecution for malicious harassment, unless evidence exists which explains to the trier of fact's satisfaction that the person did not intend to threaten the victim or victims, the trier of fact may infer that the person intended to threaten a specific victim or group of victims because of the person's perception of the victim's or victims' race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or mental, physical, or sensory handicap if the person commits one of the following acts:

(a) Burns a cross on property of a victim who is or whom the actor perceives to be of African American heritage; or

(b) Defaces property of a victim who is or whom the actor perceives to be of Jewish heritage by defacing the property with a swastika.

This subsection only applies to the creation of a reasonable inference for evidentiary purposes. This subsection does not restrict the state's ability to prosecute a person under subsection (1) of this section when the facts of a particular case do not fall within (a) or (b) of this subsection.

(3) It is not a defense that the accused was mistaken that the victim was a member of a certain race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, or sexual orientation, or had a mental, physical, or sensory handicap.

(4) Evidence of expressions or associations of the accused may not be introduced as substantive evidence at trial unless the evidence specifically relates to the crime charged. Nothing in this chapter shall affect the rules of evidence governing impeachment of a witness.

(5) Every person who commits another crime during the commission of a crime under this section may be punished and prosecuted for the other crime separately.

(6) For the purposes of this section:

(a) "Sexual orientation" has the same meaning as in RCW 49.60.040.

(b) "Threat" means to communicate, directly or indirectly, the intent to:

(i) Cause bodily injury immediately or in the future to the person threatened or to any other person; or

(ii) Cause physical damage immediately or in the future to the property of a person threatened or that of any other person.

(7) Malicious harassment is a class C felony.

(8) The penalties provided in this section for malicious harassment do not preclude the victims from seeking any other remedies otherwise available under law.

(9) Nothing in this section confers or expands any civil rights or protections to any group or class identified under this section, beyond those rights or protections that exist under the federal or state Constitution or the civil laws of the state of Washington.