Victim of alleged hate crime says huge crowd saw, but no one helped

SEATTLE -- While police investigate an alleged knifepoint robbery and hate crime that occurred Thursday, the victim is speaking out, admonishing a crowd of onlookers who he says didn't come to his aid.

According to Capitolhillseattle.com, Robbie Turner, a gay man and PrideFest performer, was robbed around 4 p.m. near East Olive Way and Broadway. Though details of the crime from Seattle Police Department weren't immediately available, Turner took to his Facebook page and described the alleged attack.

According to Turner, he was walking home from work so he could change into drag and attend an event. Turner was on the phone when a man walked up to him and allegedly punched him in the face. Turner dropped the phone but the man allegedly pulled out a knife and swung it at Turner's throat. Turner was punched again and his belongings were strewn about the street before the man ran off.

Perhaps the most aggravating part about the attack, Turner said, was that it happened around a large crowd of people walking in the sunny Seattle afternoon.

"(The knife) was less than an inch from slicing my throat open in front of a very late crowd on the (SPCC) campus," Turner said on his Facebook. "No one yelled. No one came to my assistance. Plenty watched."

Turner claimed a young woman approached him shortly after the attack and said she was scared. He replied he was scared, too.

"What has happened to the chivalrous men and women who won't let injustice happen to others RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEIR EYES," Turner asked on his Facebook page.

No medics were dispatched to the area, Capitol Hill blog reported. Newqueerontheblock.com called the incident one of many in a disturbing trend of violence against gays.