(The Center Square) – Sixteen days after a brutal attack on an independent journalist as he was covering anti-ICE protests in Seattle, the alleged suspect has still not been arrested.
Meanwhile, over the weekend, the victim, Cam Higby, was contacted via text message by the alleged attacker, Jeremy Lawson.
Seattle police detectives have referred a felony assault charge against Lawson to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Lawson denies he was responsible for the blows that left Higby with a serious concussion on June 14, but the weekend text messages from a phone number that Seattle police confirmed is Lawson’s made Higby uncomfortable.
In a Monday interview with The Center Square, Higby said he hasn’t been able to do his job as a journalist since the assault, captured on video.
“I mean, he’s psychotic, so it’s not really safe for me to go out in the field until he’s arrested, which prevents me from doing my job,” Higby said. “I’m just waiting for that to happen so I can go back out.”
Higby shared the text message from Lawson with the SPD detective assigned to his case and posted the messages to X. The contact from Lawson started by asking how Higby was feeling, but the message used Higby’s legal name, which is not widely known.
“Hey [blank], you okay?”
Higby responded, asking who was messaging him, and the text back said, “Jeremy Lawson.”
Higby texted back to say: “[D]o not contact me again unless it’s a confession.”
Lawson responded that he wouldn’t “rest until justice was served” and then referenced the neighborhood where Higby lives, which Higby says was unnerving.
The Center Square contacted the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to find out if and when an arrest warrant would be issued for Lawson and received an email response from KCPAO Director of Communications Casey McNerthney.
“Arrest decisions are made by police,” McNerthney wrote. “Booking decisions are made by police and jail staff, and people can be held on a judge’s order.”
SPD communications put the onus back on the prosecutor regarding an arrest.
“Upon review of SPD’s referred charges, they may issue a warrant for the suspect’s arrest,” wrote Detective Eric Muñoz, with SPD public affairs.
McNerthney said his office is waiting on additional information before making a charging decision.
“Typically, when there is an injury such as a concussion, the court will want to see those specific medical records. Detectives typically follow up with victims to get original documents (or sufficient copies of the medical records) to submit to prosecutors before a charging decision is made,” McNerthney said.
Higby told The Center Square that the hospital where he was treated is expected to provide all the needed medical records directly to the investigating officer.
According to McNerthney, the prosecutor’s office is also waiting on surveillance video from the federal building that could “help in providing a continuous view of an incident and a more complete understanding of an incident.”
“I’m still optimistic that the prosecutor will take the charges,” Higby said. “I think they will, but I’m still worried because he hasn’t been arrested, and it’s still very annoying to me that I’m not able to do my job until he gets arrested.”
Lawson responded to a request for comment via text message, indicating he is not the attacker.
“It definitely is a case of mistaken identity,” Lawson wrote. “I got fired from my job because of it.”
Lawson texted The Center Square to say he only reached out to Higby out of concern for his safety.
“I have nothing against Higby and wasn’t at the protest that night … I am an IWW advocate (Industrial Workers of the World) and a Black Panther supporter and only want to unionize the working poor, create equality in the workplace and take back the means of production … I’m in no way affiliated with ANTIFA.”
