UPDATE: The driver appeared in court and bail was set at $1.2 million.
Kelete is originally from Eritrea and is a U.S. citizen, Browne said. He lives with his family in Seattle, and they’re very religious, he said. Kelete was the owner of the Jaguar XJL and was alone in the car, according to a Washington State Patrol report submitted to the court late Saturday. . .The state patrol had closed a section of I-5 for 19 days in a row because of the protesters, troopers said. It had been closed to traffic for more than an hour before the crash.
It appears he was charged with vehicular assault, which is a felony. Here is the statute:
https://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.61.522
Logically he could also face charges for vehicular homicide:
https://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.61.520
Eritrea is about evenly split between Muslims and Christians. Dawit corresponds to “David” in Ethiopian, and the name is consistent with a Christian background.
It is not clear why the police would allow protestors to close the interstate nightly for 19 days before the crash rather than arresting or blocking them. Nor is clear why the driver would bypass police barricades and drive through a closed highway at a high speed.
A search of CNN shows no mention of the driver’s name. No surprise there.
In a related story, a Seattle detective has been placed on leave after making remarks online critical of protesters. The detective happens to be a cousin of Governor Inslee:
There are lots of questions and not a lot of answers. I suspect that the authorities know more than what is reported in the media.
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