Rantz: Homeless man brutally assaults Seattle rider as King County Metro claims bus is safe

Oct 6, 2024, 4:55 PM | Updated: Oct 7, 2024, 6:31 am

Jason Rantz waited for a bus with a homeless man missing a cheek, and another smoking weed. (Photo: Jason Rantz, KTTH)

(Photo: Jason Rantz, KTTH)

Talk Show Host and Columnist at Seattle Red AM 770

Days after a report suggesting crime is down on King County Metro, a homeless man brutally attacked a Seattle resident on a bus in the First Hill neighborhood. It is being investigated as a possible hate crime.

The alleged attack was completely random, near James Street and 8th Avenue. The Asian-American victim, who did not want to be identified, said he was sucker-punched, body-slammed, kicked and bit by a homeless man who was “screaming really insanely racist stuff at me.” While the attack went on, the victim told KING 5 that he was yelling for help but the driver “seemed to not care really.” The only person on the bus was another homeless person who did not get involved.

“King Country Metro on their website says their number one mission is passenger safety, yet it seems like the policies and the ways things are enforced make it not possible,” he said. “There needs to be some level of accountability and ways for the drivers to enforce safety for all passengers. Whether that means denying boarding to dangerous passengers, I think that’s something that needs to be taken into account.”

The King County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the attack. They have not revealed any details on the alleged attacker, even though it could help keep riders safe.

Why is it so dangerous to ride the bus in King County and Seattle?

King County Metro seldom, if ever, denies homeless people a free ride. As a matter of policy, drivers are not supposed to confront dangerous homeless passengers, instead calling in security. But for anyone who regularly rides a bus, drivers very rarely call security.

This September 29 attack, like countless others, wasn’t just some random blip on the radar — it’s part of a much bigger problem. King County Metro has become the perfect storm for this kind of violence because they’ve opened the floodgates for the homeless to board buses without paying, without being questioned and, most critically, without consequences.

The rise of violence on King County Metro buses is directly tied to the city’s inability (or unwillingness) to deal with its rampant homelessness problem.

King County Metro’s leadership has done virtually nothing to address the homeless turning buses into their personal shelters, committing violent crimes, getting high or laying across multiple bus seats. Instead of cracking down on these threats, they’re bending over backward to placate activists who screech about “equity” whenever anyone tries to enforce basic rules.

Blame policy for these results

When Metro announced it was dropping fare enforcement in response to claims that it was somehow racist, they essentially threw open the doors for anyone to ride without paying —and now it’s the paying customers who are, quite literally, paying the price.

While King County Metro claims to have restarted a new form of fare enforcement, good luck finding it enforced. Despite an apparent increase in security, you’ll have a hard time finding which lines they patrol. And they’re certainly not at the bus stops where dangerous homeless drug addicts continue to cause problems.

But Metro’s leadership couldn’t care less. They’d rather shove a report down our throats that claims they’re making progress in reducing crime, even as residents continue to be assaulted and harassed. Are these people even reading the news? Or are they too busy celebrating their buses are de facto homeless shelters on wheels?

But we’re told it’s safe to ride King County Metro

Last week, King County Metro released a new report suggesting crime is down and ridership is up. But it’s hard to believe the veracity of any claim that it’s safer to ride the bus today than what it was pre-pandemic. Who do they think they’re fooling?

Even if the number of reported crimes is technically lower, that doesn’t mean the buses are any safer. It just means people have stopped reporting these incidents because they know nothing will come of it. When someone is threatened on a bus and the homeless assailant doesn’t face any consequences, why bother going through the motions of filing a report? The bureaucrats at Metro clearly don’t care.

The report even claims an unlikely 44% drop in open-air drug use on King County Metro through August. A year ago, a University of Washington study reported meth in 98% of the surface samples and 100% of the air samples, and fentanyl in 46% of the surface and 25% of the air samples, on area mass transit. King County Metro has done virtually nothing to address the issue but there’s been that significant of a drop? Perhaps it’s because they’re getting high at our bus stops more often? That’s something that’s quite common for those of us who take the bus.

Preventable violence

The sad truth is this most recent attack, like so many others, could have been easily prevented if King County Metro had a shred of common sense. Instead of rolling out the red carpet for the homeless population to turn their buses into roving shelters, they could have enforced the rules and kept paying customers safe. But no, that would have been too much to ask in a city and county where “equity” is a higher priority than public safety.

If King County Metro truly cared about reducing crime on board, they’d start by holding people accountable. How about enforcing fares, for starters? How about stopping people from smoking fentanyl on the buses? How about kicking off the homeless individuals who refuse to pay and treating the people who ride the buses every day for work, school, or errands with the dignity and safety they deserve?

But instead of doing any of that, King County Metro has chosen to gaslight the public. They claim safety is improving, all while crime continues to plague their buses. It’s a slap in the face to the people who depend on public transit in this city — and it’s an insult to those of us who see right through their lies.

The attack on this Seattle man should be a wake-up call to Metro leadership, but I’m not holding my breath. They’re too busy pretending everything is fine, ignoring the real problems, and sacrificing the safety of everyday residents in the name of appeasing the loudest voices on the Radical Left.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow Jason on X, Instagram and Facebook.

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