Photographer Left Motionless on Sidewalk After Brutal Daytime Robbery

Seattle’s rising crime drawback has claimed yet one more sufferer.

Surveillance footage posted to Twitter confirmed the brutal beating of a younger man on July 31.

Jason Rantz, a Seattle-based radio host, shared the video together with some info concerning the sufferer.

NEW: A 22-year-old freelance photographer visiting Seattle was brutally overwhelmed unconscious & robbed within the Mount Baker neighborhood. Days later, he’s nonetheless coughing up blood & incurring medical debt.

WARNING: the video is a troublesome watch. Learn extra under.https://t.co/l1SUtNzmgu pic.twitter.com/zgdkxeiFeH

— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) August 8, 2021

In accordance with Rantz, the sufferer is a 22-year-old freelance photographer who goes by the identify Caliber Visuals on-line.

Within the video, the assault started with the soon-to-be assailant approaching Caliber after which providing out his hand for a handshake.

When Caliber obliged his request, the attacker then refused to let go, continuing to throw Caliber to the bottom earlier than kicking at and stomping on the photographer’s head.

As soon as Caliber seems unconscious, the assailant could be seen looking out his pockets and stealing varied gadgets.

Among the many stolen gadgets have been an iPhone 12, roughly $900 in money, a pockets and driver’s license and varied debit playing cards, Caliber advised Rantz.

“4 days later I’m making an attempt to remain constructive with the very fact I’m nonetheless right here and in a position to transfer ahead in life however I nonetheless discover myself spitting up blood and extreme complications,” Caliber posted on social media.

It isn’t too stunning to see such an assault, given the town’s rising crime drawback.

The Seattle authorities’s crime statistics present that crime as a complete has elevated from 2019 to 2020. Nevertheless, the town’s numbers additionally present a drop within the prevalence of robberies and aggravated assaults from 2019 to 2020.

This may very well be a reporting error. In spite of everything, the drastic drop in police presence may have resulted in fewer crimes being responded to. U.S. News reported that extra Seattle cops resigned in 2020 than in any 12 months since 2012.

Equally, the variety of prostitution instances between 2o19 and 2020 additionally plummeted despite the fact that there isn’t any indication the police pressure selected to crack down on such crimes. Due to this fact, many of those supposed decreases may very well be as a result of an absence of police response.

There’s a preponderance of anecdotal proof popping out of Seattle, all suggesting that violent crime is, certainly, a rising drawback.

Seattle Instances columnist Danny Westneat attributes the town’s deteriorating crime drawback to Seattle’s choice to slash police funding, writing in a July 28 article that the council “left Seattle in a no man’s land on crime.”

Within the 2021 funds, the Seattle metropolis council selected to chop the town’s funding to the police division by 18 percent regardless of these rising crime charges.

In the case of fixing the issue of rising crime charges, those self same metropolis officers opted for a preferred left-wing answer — utilizing social staff rather than cops. This included having social staff reply to some 911 disaster calls.

Nevertheless, shortly earlier than the 2021 funds assembly occurred, a social employee was stabbed to death by one 58-year-old violent offender.

Maybe this was an indication of issues to come back.