LYNNWOOD — A fourth white supremacist indicted in a racist assault at a Lynnwood bar surrendered this week to federal authorities.
Jason “Gravy” DeSimas, 46, a Tacoma tattoo artist, should stay behind bars pending trial, U.S. District Court docket Choose Paula McCandlis dominated Monday.
Two folks injured within the 2018 beating recognized a person with a satan tattoo as one of many assailants who surrounded a Black DJ and beat him on a dance ground on the Rec Room Bar and Grill, 14920 Freeway 99.
“Legislation enforcement reviews and reserving photographs of DeSimas for prior offenses notice that he has a tattoo of a satan’s face on the entrance of his neck,” wrote federal prosecutors on the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace in Seattle.
Safety footage confirmed DeSimas “actively assaulting the victims by placing downward along with his arms, again and again” on Dec. 8, 2018, in keeping with a movement to detain the defendant. The injured folks reported a person with a satan tattoo used the N-word “earlier than, throughout and after the assault.”
Final week, after two years in authorized limbo, federal prosecutors announced a grand jury had indicted DeSimas and three different males from the Northwest: Daniel Dorson, 25, of Oregon; Randy Smith, 40, of Oregon; and Jason Stanley, 44, of Idaho.
All 4 had been in custody this week.
In line with investigators, they had been passing by Lynnwood, as half of a bigger group of extremists, as a result of it was a type of white supremacist vacation marking the loss of life of Robert Jay Mathews, of the home terrorist group The Order. Mathews was killed Dec. 8, 1984, in a shootout with dozens of federal brokers at a cabin on Whidbey Island.
The federal public defender for DeSimas submitted a 14-page movement Wednesday looking for to revoke the detention order, together with three letters from three supporters: his teenage little one; a good friend named “Tiffany” whose final identify was redacted; and a person who recognized himself solely as “Mike” who had “labored with jason for 3 years now and gotten to know him on a private stage.” (The topic line learn: “Jason desimess.”)
Tacoma activists have uncovered DeSimas’ unabashed help for Hammerskin Nation, a far-right group labeled by the Southern Poverty Law Center as one of many nation’s “oldest, most violent skinhead teams.”
A one-star Yelp review for DeSimas’ tattoo parlor, TacTown Tattoo, reveals him standing in entrance of posters of the crossed hammers that make up a Hammerskin emblem, whereas DeSimas and others put on shirts depicting the Wolfsangel, a runic image appropriated by the Nazi SS. The image has additionally been adopted by neo-Nazis of the 21st century.
Different pictures saved and reposted by activists confirmed DeSimas and two folks recognized as his coworkers carrying “Crew 38” shirts — a “help group” for the Hammerskins — with the quantity 88 in huge block letters, a far-right code for the eighth letter of the alphabet twice: H.H., for “Heil Hitler,” according to the Anti-Defamation League.
His public defender, Sara Brin, argued in her movement that DeSimas has “sturdy ties to the group by the tattooing trade and his dedication to one of these work for 17 years right here in Washington.”
Brin argued that DeSimas, who has lung harm and different well being points, might die if he contracts COVID-19 on the Federal Detention Middle in SeaTac, where dozens of inmates have tested positive this month.
His legal professional additionally argued DeSimas had identified about this investigation for 2 years however didn’t flee and stayed out of bother with the regulation.
Over the previous 20 years, he was convicted of housebreaking, felony assault, heroin possession, identification theft, forgery and auto theft.
“Jason is just not a foul man,” Tiffany wrote. “possibly made some unhealthy errors in life however who hasnt?”
The protection movement hasn’t gone in entrance of a choose but.
Six different folks carrying white supremacist emblems had been detained north of Lynnwood in 2018. No different hate crime prices had been filed as of this week.
All 4 indicted males are charged with three counts of hate crimes, in addition to mendacity to the FBI.
DeSimas, for instance, claimed no person in his group used the N-word, in keeping with federal prosecutors. Court docket papers say DeSimas did admit to being a member of Crew 38.
A U.S. District Court docket choose ordered Dorson to be transferred out of Oregon, the place he was being held, for courtroom hearings in Seattle.
Smith was additionally behind bars in Oregon this week.
Stanley remained at an Idaho state jail.
Caleb Hutton: 425-339-3454; [email protected] Twitter: @snocaleb.
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