An 82-year-old woman was recently arrested for a suspected hate crime on the eve of the presidential election in Washington. Police bodycam footage shows officers interacting with the elderly woman on the scene after she allegedly assaulted two supporters of President-elect Trump. The incident occurred on Monday, November 4 at an intersection in Edmonds, Washington, where a group of Trump supporters were standing.
The 82-year-old woman allegedly pushed and punched a 55-year-old woman and a 66-year-old woman after a verbal disagreement related to politics. The suspect had reportedly engaged with the Trump supporters on the basis of their skin color. “I approached her, and I said, ‘I want to know why you’re voting for Trump.’ That’s the only thing. And I said, ‘Because you’re brown-skinned.'” she said.
She further explained that she was in disbelief as to how minorities could support President-elect Trump. “I was a teacher, I hate the racism in this country. I hate how people are treated, and so my question was how a brown person can support this person,” she stated. “And she immediately started screaming, ‘racist, racist.’” She added, “And my response was to push her away. And it wasn’t hard. I didn’t help the situation.”
One of the individuals who was allegedly assaulted claimed, “She came up to me, and she read my shirt, and she says, you know, that God doesn’t like guns. And I said, Well, you know, I’m not going for Trump to be my pastor. And then she says, in you, you should know better. Life is a more skin color, and you’re a racist. And then she came up and she pushed me, and then she hit me, my freaking chin.”
The suspect continued telling police, “I mean, I hate the racism in this country. I hate how people are treated okay. And so I’m wondering, why would somebody with brown skin support this? And that was my question, and she immediately started screaming racism. Came in with her face right after me, just screaming at the top of her voice. My response was to push her away, and I took my hand to her chin. We have Nazis and racism becoming a predominant thing, turning people against each other. Somebody has to stand up. What else can I do? Nobody listens to me. I’m just a little lady.”
However, the officer reminded her that citizens must vote instead of resorting to assault. “That’s why you vote and we do. The democratic process.” The suspect retorted, “Is the democratic process, gerrymandering and purging the purging the rules, intimidating people at the polls. I mean, this is the party we’re up against, and it’s just, it’s criminal.”
According to a statement from Edmonds Police Department Chief Michelle Bennett, “The constitution protects peaceful rallies in our community, and community members should never be met with violence while exercising those rights. Our officers properly determined that this was more than just an assault and arrested the suspect for the appropriate charge.”
Watch the incident below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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