A 28-year-old man faces hate crime charges as well as charges of property damage and assault after waving a gun and confronting two men at a mosque Tuesday, according to the Seattle Police Department blog.
Two men told police that they were standing in the parking lot of the mosque at 15th Avenue NE and Northgate Way when the man approached them. He was hitting trees with a baseball bat and had a silver gun in his waistband, according to the account.
The man demanded to know where the two men were from and argued with them when they said they were from the United States, according to police. The two men walked away from the man when he pulled the silver gun from his waistband. The man left the scene, according to police, smashing the mirror of a car as he left.
Police found the man a few blocks away at Victory Creek Park and arrested him. The silver gun was a pellet gun, but he also had pistol that had been reported stolen from Lakewood, according to police.
The man faces charges of property damage, assault, and malicious harassment, which is Washington’s statute for a hate crime, according to police.
