April 5, 2001
(SEATTLE) – As Easter approaches, arrests continue from Seattle’s out-of-control Mardi Gras celebration.
A special police task force says that examinations of videotapes of the Fat Tuesday troubles in Pioneer Square show about 100 people committing crimes. There have been about 25 arrests so far.
In one of the most serious cases, an 18-year-old from Seattle was arrested on charges that he fired a pistol into the crowd. At least two people were wounded by stray gunshots, but no one was killed.
The arrests have brought charges of racial bias because most of those picked up or identified on videotapes as suspects are black.