A Black Lives Matter activist from Seattle has been arrested — for an alleged anti-Asian hate crime, according to reports.
Christopher Hamner, 51, who is black, was charged with allegedly attacking three Asian-American women in two separate incidents last month, according to KIRO 7.
In the first incident on March 16, Hamner allegedly shouted “Asian b—h!” at a Chinese-American mom, who was driving with her two children, before punching his fists together in a menacing motion and demanding that she get out of the car, according to the local news outlet.
The mother, Pamela Cole, says she snapped photos of Hamner and he then drove off.
“The moment he made eye contact with me he stopped, opens his door and he’s screaming, ‘F—k you, you Asian b—h. F—k you!’ and I was in complete shock. Are you talking to me?” Cole told KIRO 7.
“He jumps out the car and he’s charging at us,” she said. “That was the scariest part for me.
According to a Facebook page identified by the Post Millennial, Hamner has posted photos of himself at Black Lives Matters protests last summer, and recorded video from Seattle’s notorious CHOP protest zone.
On March 18, following the Atlanta spa shootings that killed six Asian women, he decried the “racial Hate Crimes” on the page.
But the very next day, Hamner is accused of cutting off two other Asian women while driving and again shouting similar remarks to the earlier altercation.
Hamner allegedly then charged at the women and threw a plastic object at their car, according to the Seattle Times.
But the driver’s car was equipped with a dashboard camera, which allegedly allowed cops to ID Hamner.
He was charged with one hate crime for the two incidents and pleaded not guilty at his arraignment last week. The judge set his bail at $10,000.
During the hearing, his lawyer argued that he suffers from mental illness and said that he is a Navy veteran who works at the Seattle VA Medical Center, according to a local ABC affiliate.
Some members of his church acted as character witnesses at the hearing, noting that he attends the house of worship alongside Asian congregants, the report said.
“He’s chosen to participate in a fellowship that is intentionally multi-ethnic, has Asian members and his pastor is Japanese American,” said Peter Heisen of Grace Point Community Church, according to KATU News. “Not where you would expect to find somebody accused of a hate crime.”
His trial is scheduled for June 3.
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