A Black woman in the Seattle area was stabbed multiple times after two white men allegedly dragged her off a city bus in what police said was a racially motivated attack.
The incident involved a 43-year-old woman who survived the March 7 stabbing just outside the doors of a Metro bus that rolled to a stop on Central Avenue South, the Kent Police Department said.
The attack took place in front of multiple witnesses, who later gave statements to authorities and provided video evidence of the unprovoked attack.
The identity of the victim was withheld by officials after the suspects threatened her during the bus ride, saying they did not like “Black people.”
With no way to protect herself, the woman turned to the bus driver for help, urging him to call the police.
Moments later, the two white men quickly elbowed past the other passengers and caught up with the woman at the front of the bus before one of the men grabbed her by the arm and pulled her off at the next stop, police said.
Once outside, one of the men punched the woman several times before a pocketknife was used to stab her repeatedly, according to police.
Authorities arrived on the scene within minutes, but the suspects got away briefly.
The woman, a Kent resident, avoided life threatening injuries because she had on a thick coat, which apparently protected her during the vicious assault.
She was treated at the hospital for minor injuries and released, reports said.
Investigators later determined that the second suspect did not participate in the stabbing or the beating of the woman, but he was charged with obstruction after he allegedly tried to interfere in the arrest of his partner, who was discovered hiding under a car along a residential street in Kent and placed in handcuffs.
He remains in the King County Jail while facing second-degree assault and hate crime charges. His bail was set at $250,000.
The second suspect is being held at the Kent City Corrections Facility.
Neither suspect has been named by authorities, who identified the men as a 22-year-old from Maple Valley, Washington, and a 22-year-old from Auburn, Washington.
In a statement, Kent police Chief Rafael Padilla decried acts of hate.
“I am infuriated by the blatant hateful racially motivated attack on the victim,” Padilla said, according to the Seattle Times. “I want to say this in the strongest way that I can, hate crimes will not be tolerated. If you commit a hate crime in our city, KPD will be relentless in our pursuit of bringing you to justice.”
In early March, Washington state lawmakers approved a new emergency hotline to assist people who have been targeted by hate crimes and bias incidents, which is expected to be fully operational by 2027.
Under Washington law, a hate crime occurs when an individual deliberately inflicts harm or damage on another person because of their race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, or disability.
The state established hate crimes as a category in 2019, while the law also covers hate-related threats that cause victims to fear for their safety. These crimes are considered felonies, punishable by up to five years in prison.
Washington police reported 590 hate crimes to the FBI in 2022, compared to 651 in 2021 and 462 in 2020. In 2022, 63 percent of the state’s hate crimes were related to race, ethnicity, or ancestry, 18 percent were related to sexual orientation, and 10 percent were related to religion.
