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
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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