The number of hate crimes in King County this year, in which victims have been targeted for gender expression or sexual orientation, is close to eclipsing last year’s total number just four months into the year.
There have been five hate crimes in King County this year related to gender identity or sexual orientation. There were seven in total in all of 2024, a year that saw a notable drop from the record number reported in 2020 (24).
“It’s hard to say exactly why this is happening,” said Casey McNerthney with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. “Whatever it is. It’s not going to be tolerated.”
The true number could be even higher, as McNerthney warns hate crimes can be underreported.
“People don’t always realize the behavior that they’re facing is not just hateful, it’s a hate crime,” he said.
In one of the most recent incidents, four men are accused of assaulting a transgender woman in Seattle’s University District in late March. It happened as the victim was leaving her workplace.
The men are accused of yelling slurs before punching her in the face, knocking her to the ground, and then kicking her in the torso. Court documents say the victim was able to get away, but the group followed her and continued to punch and kick her.
She was left bruised, bleeding, and with broken teeth.
One of the suspects, Andre Phillip Karlow, was arraigned in King County on Monday. His attorneys entered pleas of not guilty. A judge set his bail at $200,000.
The other suspects have not yet been referred to prosecutors.
Karlow was previously charged with another hate crime in September and had been released on bail.
In the September incident, he allegedly shouted slurs at another transgender woman before punching her in the face in Seattle’s International District.
That woman was Lexi Young.
“I was doing my job,” she said. “I was simply existing.”
Young said she’s never experienced anything like this previously in Seattle.
“Not only was it soul crushing in a manner that he will never understand, but just incredibly, incredibly disgusting,” she said.
She was shocked and disheartened to hear Karlow could be linked to another hate crime.
“To hear that it happened to somebody else, it was absolutely heartbreaking,” she said.
Since the latest incident, she’s taken leave from work.
“I am so scared of encountering something else like this,” she said.
She hopes those watching will help stand up to hate.
“People are being emboldened to act out and to spread misery,” Young said. “The only thing that we can do is push back and stand up for each other.”
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is pushing for more accountability in hate crimes. The office is advocating on behalf of two bills that seek to clarify what constitutes a hate crime.
Right now, state law says that someone is guilty of a hate crime if the person commits a crime “because of” their perception of a victim’s identity. Prosecutors say the language confuses jurors, who are not clear whether that bias must be the only motive.
Both bills, SB 5038 and HB 1052, would clarify the language to allow prosecutors in Washington to charge hate crimes if a suspect is motivated “in whole or in part” because of their perception of a victim’s identity.
“That makes it very clear for jurors that it doesn’t have to be the whole motivation,” McNerthney said. “It can be partially motivated by hate, and that should be enough to convict somebody of a hate crime.”
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