County Asked To File Charges In Stabbing Civil Rights Group Urges Commissioners To Put Pressure On Prosector’s Office
Protesters who want a woman prosecuted for stabbing a black teenager took their case to Spokane County commissioners Tuesday.
Members of Unity in Action said they have no doubt Karen Beeman would have been charged with a crime if the University High School student she injured wasn’t black.
“An incident like the stabbing of Tim Buchanan might have been handled exactly the same way in Jackson County, Georgia, in 1961 as it was handled in Spokane County in 1996,” said Rusty Nelson.
Nelson was one of four speakers during the commissioners’ weekly meeting. About 50 other protesters waved signs with slogans such as “Justice is for Everyone.”
During a Sept. 7 brawl at the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds, Beeman stabbed Buchanan with a double-edged boot knife as he fought with her son, Tristan, an East Valley High School student.
Karen Beeman, who is of Samoan descent, told police she believed her son was in danger and needed her protection.
Witnesses said she sprayed Buchanan with Mace - and he punched her twice in the face - before she stabbed him. One of the wounds was 2 inches deep, according to authorities.
Weeks later, Unity in Action members were angered when Prosecutor Jim Sweetser announced Beeman’s self-defense claims appeared valid, and she would not be charged.
On Tuesday, the protesters acknowledged that county commissioners cannot force the prosecutor to change his position. But, “you hold the purse strings for the prosecutor,” Eileen Thomas told commissioners.
“The stabbing of Tim Buchanan was not an act of self-defense,” said another speaker, Florrie Bassier. “The person who stabbed him could have sought help from police but instead acted on her own, in a violent manner.”
Speaking in a shaky voice, Bernice Buchanan asked commissioners “to find a better explanation than the one that’s been given” for why her 17-year-old son’s injury wasn’t considered a crime.
Bernice Buchanan said the injuries have hurt her son’s ability to compete in football and wrestling, and the medication has made it difficult for him to concentrate in school.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color Photos