Hate crime charges filed against man accused of assaulting Burien Mayor

BURIEN, Wash. — Hate crime charges were filed against an Oregon man accused of assaulting Burien’s Mayor. For the first time, Mayor Jimmy Matta is talking about the attack.

“I’m not going let fear stop me from speaking out. I’m not going to let fear keep me from pushing my values,” Matta said.

Mayor Matta says he never expected to be physically attacked back in July 2018 while he was enjoying Burien’s Block Party. The State Attorney General’s office has charged 63-year old Craig Pierce Tweney of Oregon with malicious harassment and fourth degree assault. Matta says during the assault, Tweney shouted racist sentiments about his policies.

“You know when you run for office, you can’t make everybody happy. You set your policies, you talk about your vision. There’s some people who are not going to like it, just because they don’t like it, which is OK,” Matta said.

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