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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 2011)
WWW . THESkANNER . COM D ECEMBER 21/D ECEMBER 28, 2011 S EATTlE , WA V OluME XXXIII, N O . 60 25 CENTS I NSIDE H av e a safe H o l i d ay Community Faces page 2 Christmas Choir page 3 Pet Health C hallenging P eoPle to S haPe a B etter F uture n ow White Extremist Violence page 4 Happy Holidays Experts Say 2011 a Big Year for Attacks SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - They exist in the margins of the Pacific Northwest. Some are white supremacists. Some are anti-Semites. Some are anti-government. Many are all of the above. Sometimes their margins are literal, as they live in small towns near the vast forests that dominate this region. Almost always their margins are social, as many are unem- ployed, or underemployed, and live alone. Every now and then, one breaks from the margins and creates a public spectacle. The latest incident occurred last week as a house in Washougal, Wash., burned to the ground while someone inside shot at fire- fighters to keep them away. The homeown- er has been identified as a self-proclaimed white separatist. It was one of numerous incidents this year in which extremists of various kinds made news in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. The crimes involved a white supremacist couple charged in a three-state killing spree; an attempted bombing at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Spokane; and a for- mer militia member who opened fire on deputies in Montana and vanished into a forest. To be sure, the perpetrators are by no means representative of the broader, law- abiding population in the Pacific Northwest. But they are part of a trend that has seen extremist activity on the rise nationally. The region has also been the base for some of the highest-profile ones, including the Aryan Nations and the Militia of Montana. Travis McAdam of the Montana Human Rights Network said the reasons for the trend include the election of a black presi- dent, growing distrust with the federal gov- ernment, the downturn in the economy and the continued growth of minority groups in the population. “All of this has created a perfect storm of anger, fear, and resentment that white supremacists are trying to tap into and capi- talize upon,” McAdam said. See TERRORISTS on page 3 INDEX News Makers .........3,6 Opinion .....................4 Bids/Classifieds ..........7 H av e a safe H o l i d ay PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED By Nicholas K. Geranios The Associated Press Volunteer Deborah Hilsman helps a little girl select a toy at the Third Annual Christmas Day of Caring at Mount Zion Baptist Church on Saturday Dec. 17. Over 1,000 children, and their families received toys, gently used clothes and refreshments at the holiday event co-sponsored by C.A.M.P and Mount Zion. Investigation Released on Seattle Police US Department of Justice finds Bureau used ‘excessive force’ By Donna Gordon Blankinship The Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Inadequate supervision and training have led Seattle police officers to grab weapons such as batons and flashlights too quickly and to escalate con- frontations even when arresting people for minor offenses, the U.S. Justice Department said Friday. The department launched an investigation last spring follow- ing the fatal shooting of a home- less Native American wood- carver and other reported uses of force against minority sus- pects. The probe was aimed at determining whether Seattle police have a “pattern or prac- tice” of violating civil rights or discriminatory policing, and if so, what they should do to improve. Federal investigators deter- mined Seattle police have engaged in excessive force that violated federal law and the Constitution. They did not find discriminatory policing, but the report acknowledged that many community members believe the department does show bias. “Our findings should serve as a foundation to reform the police department and to help restore the community’s confi- dence in fair, just and effective law enforcement. The problems within SPD have been present for many years and will take time to fix,” said Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the civil rights division. The Department of Justice is currently conducting 20 investi- gations of police department across the country and the use of force is a prominent issue in most of them, Perez said. He was optimistic about Seattle’s chances of improving, based on his experience in other cities. He mentioned Los Angeles as an example of a city that had much worse policing problems than Seattle 12 years ago and has since been trans- formed. In interviews and a depart- ment-wide email, Seattle Police Chief John Diaz disputed the See POlIcE on page 3 Achievement Gap’s Surprising Division Report: African American students score worse than African ones SEATTLE (AP) _ A new look at test scores by Seattle Public Schools shows American-born black students lag behind black immigrants in academic achievement. African-American students, whose pri- mary language is English, perform signifi- cantly worse in math and reading than black students who speak another language at home, The Seattle Times (http://is.gd/0q7lmw ) reported in Monday’s newspaper. The results were presented at a communi- ty meeting at Rainier Beach High School. Michael Tolley, an executive director over- seeing Southeast Seattle schools, said at the meeting that the data exposed a new achievement gap that is ``extremely, extremely alarming.’’ The school district for years has analyzed test scores by race, but now is doing a more nuanced breakdown. District officials have pledged to find out what might be causing this disturbing trend. But some community members said the administration doesn’t appear to be taking the results seriously enough. ``I saw that and I was shocked,’’ Rainier Beach PTSA President Carlina Brown said See STUDENTS on page 3
