Hate Crime Case Filed by King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office

The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has filed a hate crime charge against a defendant who is accused of threatening her neighbor, identified by investigators as Vietnamese-American.

This is the 11th hate crime case filed by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office this year. Four of those cases involve victims identified by investigators as Asian/Pacific Islander.

The defendant was arrested Monday and had her first court appearance Tuesday. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office asked a judge to hold her on $15,000 bail arguing that the victim is fearful of her because of the threat and that she’s a danger to the community. The first appearance judge released the defendant on her personal recognizance.

The next court appearance is an arraignment, which is scheduled for April 22.

King County has seen an increase in hate crimes since 2018. Here are the number of hate crime cases filed, based on the number of cases referred by law enforcement in King County.

• 2018: 30
• 2019: 39
• 2020: 59
• 2021: 11

Last week, King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg and King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn put forward a proposal to add resources for a specific hate crime response unit with four deputy prosecuting attorneys.