SAMMAMISH, Wash. — A 20-year-old Sammamish man is charged with a hate crime, accused of going on a homophobic rant and threatening to beat and shoot gay people.
Eric Peter Evans was charged on Oct. 22 for alleged threats that happened on Aug. 25.
Charging documents say the incident happened while the 16-year-old female victim was with two male friends – one of them Evans – at Evans' Sammamish home.
As she went into Evans' bedroom with Evans and her other friend, Evans began bragging about how many women he had slept with, the victim told police. In response, the victim told him, "The only people that brag about how many women they sleep with is gay people," probable cause documents said.
The victim told police Evans then "started yelling about how he's not gay, he was going to beat gay people up, shoot gay people, and that gays should all die," documents said.
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When the victim told Evans that his threats were offensive and that she was pansexual, Evans told her to get out of his house and then stormed out of the room. About 5 minutes later, he returned, "rushed into his closet," took something out and held it behind his back, according to the victim. She told police she couldn't see what it was at the time but later saw it was a black gun.
The victim said Evans then sat down on the bed and then pulled out a hunting rifle in a case from underneath the bed. He opened the case but did not remove the rifle, documents said.
The victim told police she believed Evans was trying to threaten her by displaying the rifle.
Court papers said Evans then pointed the black gun from the closet at the victim, rested the muzzle against her forehead and made a homophobic slur. Hoping it was still a joke, the victim told him to get the gun away from her and then pushed it away, documents said.
According to the report taken by a King County deputy, the victim said Evans then put the gun back up to her head and told her he was going to kill her and her family while they were sleeping. He also said he was going to "gather up some homophobic white supremacist people and throw grenade-like bombs through her window," the report said.
At that point, the victim's other male friend told Evans to put the gun down, and Evans returned it to the closet, according to the victim.
The victim told the deputy that Evans continued his homophobic rant for about 20 more minutes and told her such things as she needed to choose between women and men.
Later, Evans told one of the victim's friends in text messages that what he said and did on Aug. 25 was a joke and that it was just an "Airsoft" gun that he had pointed at her head, documents said.
Police interviewed the male friend that was with Evans and the victim during the alleged incident. According to the police report, he told officers that Evans had pointed a black BB gun that is modeled after a handgun at him and the victim throughout the night. He told police the BB gun was broken and that he didn't think anyone could mistake it for a handgun.
He also said he didn't believe Evans had a hunting rifle under the bed and didn't see him take anything out of the closet, probable cause documents said.
According to the report, during the investigation, police were provided with videos, one of which showed Evans threatening the victim, with Evans saying, "If you have a Molotov come through your window...bang bang," and "burn your house down … and then put your head on a stake."
The deputy who reviewed the video said Evans' left hand was briefly visible for part of the video and it didn't appear he was holding anything. The video was recorded on Aug. 22, three days before the incident.
Evans was arrested on Oct. 8.
Cox Media Group
