On Monday Mar 16, I flew into the Seattle Tacoma airport where a man repeatedly tried to force entry into my single-user gender-neutral bathroom stall. I am a young woman, and I screamed and held the door closed with my body until he finally gave up. I described what happened to the Port of Seattle police dispatcher, but they did not have an officer available to look into the incident for over 1.5 hours.
When I was finally contacted by an officer, she said that the dispatcher had told her that someone “walked in on me in the bathroom” — downplaying the fact that the man kept forcing the door open while I was screaming.
This individual was not caught and had ample time to get away, given the lag in officer response. I have not gotten a response from any legal firm willing to represent me, and the officer assigned to my case said that they couldn’t track multiple suspects on the airport cameras without a warrant, due to privacy laws in Washington. I don’t know how to obtain such a warrant as an individual. While I don’t work in the legal industry, it is my understanding that a lawyer could help petition a judge to grant this sort of warrant.
Does anyone have advice? I am horrified that the systems here don’t seem set up to protect women from attempted assault, given the lack of haste in finding the man that did this to me and the fact that I have not received any further communication from the cop assigned to my case. While I was not raped, if I had not been physically strong enough to keep the door closed, I do not know what might have happened, given his blatant disregard for my discomfort and repeated attempts to enter while I was exposed.
Seeking advice from anyone here and warning women about the single-user bathroom hallway by Dawg House in the Sea-Tac airport, where there are no direct cameras 🙁
A police report has been filed, for anyone curious, but I called back and heard that the dispatchers do not know who is assigned to my case.
submitted by /u/Wild-Chemistry-31
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