In a year marked by tragic LGBT hate crimes on Capitol Hill, Seattle Police said the department would “err on the side of caution” when pursuing suspected cases. The King County Prosecutor’s office appears to be following suit. Prosecutors are moving forward with two malicious harassment cases stemming from Capitol Hill incidents this year.
Ibrahim Koroma was arrested in October for allegedly shouting anti-lesbian slurs at an female bouncer sitting outside of R Place. The bouncer told police Koroma called her a “dyke bitch” and said “in my country, we murder you, we murder you.” The victim told police it seemed Koroma was harrassing a gay couple on the street prior to the incident.
Koroma was arraigned Tuesday and his malicious harassment case is scheduled for a hearing later this month.
In August, police arrested Ivan Prokhorin for allegedly calling two men “faggots,” then striking one with a baseball bat. The victims were holding hands on a Sunday night near Harvard Ave and E Pine. Prosecutors have since charged Prokhorin with malicious harassment, the state’s hate crime charge. Prokhorin’s trial is scheduled to start Wednesday.
In October, a SPD report showed there have been 10 hate crime incidents investigated in the East Precinct covering Capitol Hill, with the majority of those happening in Pike/Pine.
Advocates for the LGBTQ communities say the numbers are likely much higher with under-reporting due to cultural and policing biases past and present.
Seattle Police say “extremist beliefs” drove Ali Brown to shoot to death two men he met while out at R Place as part of a nationwide crime and murder spree. Meanwhile, Musab Masmari was sentenced to 10 years for the New Year’s arson at Neighbours nightclub. While prosecutors and police say Masmari was clearly driven by anti-gay motivations, the case was not prosecuted as a hate crime.
I hope they throw the book at these assholes. I don’t understand the logic of going to the one neighborhood in the city known to embrace the gay community and then being upset that there are gay people there. I don’t drive to uwajimaya then drop racist remarks about all the Asians. These are dumb dumb people who should pay for their stupidity and backwards thinking.
They should lock Ibrahim Koroma up for a year in jail; then if he’s on a green card, deport him back to “my country” (wherever ‘my country’ is), where he’ll have plenty of time to think about where he doesn’t get to live anymore.
Somebody should have given him a Lonely Planet USA before he came to our benighted shores. “In the US, it is considered unacceptable to stone adulterers and homosexuals, and honor killing your daughter is frowned upon. If that’s not bad enough, alcohol is consumed openly, and women often wear clothes that reveal their faces and calves.”
He’s from Somalia, possibly the worlds largest shithole. So…he has no country to go back to….he’s ours.
Maybe Sierra Leone?
I agree, Jim. He should not be allowed the privilege of living in the USA. If he is deported back to a “shithole” (Somalia), so much the better.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking logic had anything to do with this. It’s just as likely Koroma and his ilk deliberately seek out people they believe to be GBLT specifically for the purpose of harassment. Assuming they come from cultures where such harassment is not only tolerated, but encouraged, they may feel empowered to test the limits of their new “American freedom” in ways that, while allowed where they were raised, are completely inappropriate and most definitely NOT tolerated here (or at least most places here).
Thank you for reporting this. Let us prosecute these crimes and equally if not more importantly let’s all make our voices heard to all people who are new to this community that anti lgbyt ideoligy is not only unacceptable but more important lets educate these people why? No one is born with hate, it is taught which means we can unteach it if we are truly proactive and vocal!
Some people are assholes and need to be in jail.
I disagree that such hate can be “un-taught.” If someone reaches their 20s with extreme homophobia, it is very unlikely they will change. We shouldn’t waste any time trying to “educate” them…instead, they should be deported.
Deported? You’re assuming all homophobic peoples are immigrants? I wish. Just last night one of my friends was at Chuck’s and a dude who was waiting with his kids to see Santa busted out a bunch of hateful homophobic language. It’s not just immigrants or the “other”.
Well, of course not…..that’s not what I said. But if an immigrant is convicted of a hate crime….then, yes, they have lost their right to continue living in the USA. And, if I’m not mistaken, deportation is automatic for anyone convicted of a felony.