A security camera at the Bellingham Police Department captured scenes from a June 12 high school field trip and the aftermath of an attack being charged as a hate crime.
Paul Jonathan Bittner, 42, is accused of assaulting and assaulting an 11-year-old Bellingham boy who was returning from a field trip with his class in downtown Bellingham. Police arrested Bittner a few blocks away. Bittner is white and the boy is African-American.
Bittner was charged June 14 in Whatcom County Superior Court with one count of hate crime and one count of second-degree abuse of a child. Bittner’s hate crime charge alleges that he “maliciously and intentionally” attacked another person because of the perception of that person’s race, while his assault charge states that he intentionally attacked a child under the age of 13 and “thereby recklessly caused significant committed physical crimes. harm” to the child, court records show.
Bittner pleaded not guilty to the charges during his arraignment hearing on Friday morning, June 21. Dozens of community members packed a small fifth-floor courtroom at the Whatcom County Courthouse during the hearing in support of the child and his family.
