Edmonds police investigating after local African American teens say they were threatened

Edmonds police are investigating an incident involving two African American teenagers that occurred on the evening of Feb. 4 outside of Harvey’s Lounge, located in the 21100 block of Highway 99.

The teens’ mother, Darnesha Weary of Edmonds, said her 18-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter were working on a school photography project — which involved taking photos of Highway 99 near Harvey’s— when they were threatened by a person from Harvey’s who had a baseball bat and used the “n-word.”

“He was yelling at them and saying they didn’t want any n—— in here,” Weary said. “When they got home, my daughter was in tears and my son had his head down, didn’t talk. My husband went outside to see if anyone was there and I called 911.

Edmonds police spokesman Sgt. Josh McClure said that the department is looking at the Weary family concerns “thoroughly” — including reviewing surveillance footage from Harvey’s — to determine if a crime has occurred. “Our patrol officers worked overnight on this before a detective was assigned first thing this morning and began following up,” McClure said.

Police are receiving “full cooperation” from the owner of Harvey’s, he added.

A phone call from My Edmonds News to Harvey’s for comment was unsuccessful; the person who answered hung up.

As the investigation continues, Weary admits her family is badly shaken by the incident. “My daughter couldn’t sleep. She kept asking, ‘How could they do that to us? I didn’t do anything wrong.’ My kids volunteer. They do well in school. My daughter said, ‘All they saw is my brother is black. I’m black.’”

Weary said that she and her husband have no answers other than “that it is the way of the world.” She added that her husband has cautioned his son. “He said, ‘You are 6-foot-5 and a black male. You have to be aware.’”

The family has received support on Facebook and from the schools. “That helps,” Darnesha Weary said. “We appreciate it.”

McClure noted in a statement that the incident has received “strong reaction on social media,” and asked for patience as the investigation progresses. “We encourage everyone to be respectful of the process, let the facts come to light and to refrain from inflammatory comments,” he said. ” The Edmonds Police Department thanks you for ongoing community concern and willingness to support this important process.”

— By Connie McDougall

 

 

 

 

 

  1. I look forward to hearing the results of the investigation. Behavior like that described in the story has no place in Edmonds!

  2. I’ve been a patron of Harvey’s for 20 years now & I have never known any regular customer behaving in this manner, ESPECIALLY, towards children & teens. If, indeed, this incident happened, it was NOT a regular customer! We run the “rif-raf” off as soon as it becomes known what type of people they are. A majority of Harvey’s patrons are hard working middle class families with children of their own & would step in to assist young people if they were to witness behavior such as this.
    I am truly sorry for what the children endured, if it did transpire as stated. We Pacific Northwesterners, pride ourselves as kind & tolerant people that would give the shirt off our backs to help out someone in need.
    This alledged incident, to me, does NOT describe the dozens of people I know that frequent Harvey’s…not from the past, present, or even possible future customers, that enjoy spending a little time with friends.

  3. Janet, if you read elsewhere, it was not a customer who chased the kids with a bat calling hem racial slurs. It was the bouncer. When the children’s mother called Harvey’s, the woman who answered the phone said that they didn’t want them on their property and if she didn’t like it, she could come to the bar and bring it.

    1. And not in such pleasant language as stated above, but with more of the n-word used. Disgusting. I hope that employee has already been fired.

  4. Because kids are involved, it might have been premature to write this article in MEN. Dan Rather wouldn’t have touched this with a ten-foot pole until there were official findings to report on. If you think there are racists with baseball bats out there, who would randomly target kids, then please don’t name this family and make them even more of a target. Please scrub the parent’s names at least (see “Take special care with minors.” as example https://ethics.npr.org/category/i-respect/ )

    Sgt. Josh McClure is right. I saw things said on social media, whoa. I don’t have facebook but, was able to find the following statement from the maybe the owner or manager of Harvey’s:

    “The police were here most of the night and are currently burning copies of the footage. Edmonds PD asks me not to release any Info for the time being. We are sorry for the silence at this time but we work very closely with Edmonds PD and will respect their request. We absolutely do NOT tolerate racism. In the 7 plus years I have been here I don’t recall ever hearing a racial comment from costumers or employee. I can’t say it has never happened, I just haven’t witnessed it. As the officer just told me: “Please wait till the the police report is final and the facts will be clear”. We fave a fairy good camera system so all the footage is very clear. Apparently this investigation could take a couple weeks. Thank you,
    Alex”

    1. We reached out to Harvey’s by phone before this was posted on their Facebook page in an attempt to get a statement, and the person answering the phone swore profusely at our reporter and hung up on her. We followed the wishes of the parent, who wanted to talk with us, and we also gave her the option of using her name or not. We did not name the children. And a main reason for writing such an article is to provide an official status report from police after so much swirl on social media, so that people know what is happening.

  5. Here’s a thought, how about we pump the brakes a little bit.

    My wife is part of FB group where the mother posted her family’s horrific experience, the Harvey’s response and a pretty amazing amount of personal restraint by herself and her husband. Then a mob attitude ensued and the retaliation began. People threatening to go over to Harvey’s, going after their Facebook and Yelp pages.

    Let’s everyone slow our roll and let our fine EPD do their job.

    * MEN is not at fault for reporting publicly available information. This family courageously identified themselves to public sources. Let’s praise the courage of the family to stand behind their reporting of this horrific incident vs. criticize Teresa or MEN.
    * Nobody knows more about what truly happened than these children. Let’s not jump to a conspiracy of a hoax.
    * EPD had officers working this all night and then a detective was assigned. These are really smart people that will determine the truth according to the evidence.

    Let’s

    1. Agreed. I’m glad there’s was surveillance video to be reviewed by EPD and trust they will do a thorough job in reviewing and investigating. It’s also important not to ostracize those making the complaint in the meantime. Women and minirities are often deterred from filing a complaint due to fear of not being believed.

  6. Looks like bigger media is picking up this story. Should no arrests be made, Edmonds could easily be the target of BLM protests/riots. The mom shouldn’t try this in the court of public opinion. Naming the kids and showing pictures of them in the news isn’t good for them, as it will be record for jobs and personal relationships long into adulthood. Let kids be kids. The EPD did a very good job of preempting the false story that a bouncer chased the kids with a bat, and in telling people to wait for the investigation. In the Seattle Times it was reported that the teens returned to the property to look for a wallet, after they were asked to leave. So far it seems like this is just a failure to use manners and conflict resolution skills by all parties, mixed with politically charged agendas that aren’t really interested in people getting along.

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