10 August 2006
The man accused in last week's shooting rampage at the Jewish Federation office in Seattle, USA, that left one woman dead and five other women wounded has been charged with nine felony counts, including violation of the State of Washington's anti-hate crime law. Naveed Afzal Haq is charged with aggravated first-degree murder in the death of Pamela Waechter, 58, director of the Jewish charity's annual fundraising campaign. Prosecutors have until the end of August to decide whether to seek the death penalty. "Make no mistake, this was a hate crime," a local prosecutor told a news conference last week. "The attack on these women was an attack on the Jewish community, not only in Seattle but throughout our nation and the world."
The gunman broke into the charity's building 28 July. According to court documents, Haq talked to 911 operators from the office, identified himself by name and said: "This is a hostage situation and I want these Jews to get out." He later added: "These are Jews and I am tired of getting pushed around and our people getting pushed around by the situation in the Middle East." Haq, 30, is also charged with five counts of attempted murder, one count of kidnapping, involving a teenage girl who was briefly taken hostage; one count of burglary for allegedly entering a locked facility to commit a crime; and one count of malicious harassment under the state's hate-crime law.
