MILL CREEK, Wash. — A political campaign worker says he feared for his safety after being confronted by an angry homeowner last weekend.
Much of that confrontation was caught on video, and now the campaign worker who was targeted says he is convinced this incident stems from racism.
Julian Jackson was campaigning for State Representative April Berg in a Mill Creek neighborhood last Saturday when he was stopped in his tracks by an angry neighbor.
Jackson says he had just parked in the neighborhood when, seemingly out of nowhere, the man accosted him.
Cell phone video recorded by Jackson of the more than four-minute confrontation shows the man insisting that Jackson needed a permit to canvass the neighborhood.
Yet Jackson is convinced the confrontation had more to do with his race than any actual rules.
“I don’t think he was saying ‘we don’t want democrats here,’” said Jackson. “I think he was saying he doesn’t want me here – and people that look like me – here.”
Several community leaders and politicians have condemned the incident, including Ryne Rohla, Rep. Berg’s political opponent.
“Racism has no place in politics or elsewhere,” Rohla said in a tweet. “Everyone should be able to advocate for their beliefs without fear of reprisal.”
Despite the confrontation, Jackson never filed a police report.
Instead, he says he welcomes a civilized discussion with the man and has a very simple message for him:
“Just be better, I guess. I guess that’s what I would say,” said Jackson.