Cross is burned on Arlington lawn of black minister

By Jennifer Sullivan and Christopher Schwarzen
Seattle Times Snohomish County bureau

	MARK HARRISON / THE SEATTLE TIMES Jason Martin, a Pentecostal minister and father of six, says his family has felt intimidated since moving to Arlington 17 months ago.
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ARLINGTON — Pastor Jason Martin was sleeping while a cross burned in his front yard.

The 38-year-old Pentecostalist was awakened by his 8-year-old daughter after she saw police and firefighters working frantically outside the house yesterday morning. Martin walked outside alone and saw a charred, crude-looking wooden cross resting on his manicured lawn.

Martin, who is black, said this isn't the first time his family has felt intimidated since they moved to their upscale Arlington neighborhood 17 months ago. He said one of his son's schoolmates at Arlington High School last year threatened to "blow up" their house, and last week someone drove a car across their lawn.

"I think it's because of race," Martin said. "We're one of the only black families in this community."

Arlington Police Chief John Gray said police and firefighters responded to Martin's house, in the 7200 block of Whitehawk Drive Northeast, around 2 a.m. He said the remnants of the 5-by-3-foot cross were sent to a State Patrol crime lab for analysis.

Gray said police may know who did it, but no arrests have been made. He said the police have classified the case as malicious harassment, considered a hate crime under state law.

"We want to hold the offenders accountable and send them the direct message that this is intolerable," Gray said.

The Seattle president of the NAACP urged officials to take action.

"This state wants to proclaim itself as the most liberal state, but this shows how far we still have to go in the issue of race relations," President Carl Mack said.

Of the 11,713 Arlington residents, the 2000 U.S. census reported little more than 1 percent are black. The school district, according to 2003-04 figures, is 90 percent white. The 63 black students make up 1 percent of the district's 5,306-student population.
 
Martin, whose congregation is based in Marysville, said he was shaken after seeing the cross.

After talking to the officers huddled in his yard, Martin said, he and his 17-year-old son prayed. He said he hasn't told his other five young children what happened.

"I'm very concerned for my children. I'm not afraid," Martin said.

As Martin prepared for his 7-year-old daughter's birthday party yesterday, friends and neighbors offered condolences.

Since moving into the Gleneagle golf-course community, Martin said his 17-year-old son has been tormented by other teens at Arlington High. Martin said the barrage of slurs caused him to join a school advisory board and report his concerns to Superintendent Linda Byrnes. He said Byrnes showed up at his house yesterday afternoon to talk about what had happened.

School district spokeswoman Catherine Russell said that last spring racist graffiti was found on a gym wall at the old high school, which was closed at the end of last school year. Following the incident, students rallied in support of diversity.

The district this year launched what it calls a "climate study" to evaluate the quality of life at the new high school, including race relations.

"We don't know who did it and why, but if it's related to our school, then we'll follow the appropriate policies," Russell said.

While Martin said he hadn't gone to police about any of the slurs or threats his son has endured, Gray, the police chief, said he is aware of racial tensions at Arlington High School.

The Seattle NAACP office called for local law enforcement to involve federal officials in their investigation.

According to statistics collected by the FBI, Snohomish County law-enforcement agencies reported six hate crimes, two of which were race-related, in 2002 — the latest information available. That year, 174 hate crimes were reported statewide.

Kinuko Noborikawa, a spokeswoman for the Human Rights Coalition for Snohomish County, said the numbers are probably low.

"We're at the same spot where domestic violence was about 20 years ago," Noborikawa said. "People are too afraid to report hate crimes. They want to forget it because they fear retribution or they believe it's just a one-time thing."

The American Civil Liberties Union says it has worked to tighten state laws regarding hate crimes so that more people will come forward.

"The reason is because hate crimes are different than other crimes in that they spread fear among a whole class of people based on their race, religion or another factor," said Doug Honig, spokesman for the ACLU's Seattle office. "(The tighter laws) are a way of society sending a strong message and strong tools to prosecute."

The state law says burning "a cross on the property of a victim who is of African American" background qualifies as a hate crime.

Martin said he and his wife won't let the burning cross force their family from their neighborhood. "I just want this person to be brought to justice," said Martin. "I don't want my kids to grow up fearful."

Jennifer Sullivan: 425-783-0604 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com; Christopher Schwarzen: 425-783-0577 or cschwarzen@seattletimes.com; Snohomish County bureau reporter J.J. Jensen contributed to this report.

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