White Supremacist threatens to kill mall security officer
PORT ORCHARD WA Dec 4 2017— On Tuesday a man who allegedly professed to be a “white supremacist” pleaded not guilty to felonies for harassing two people at Kitsap Mall in September, including threatening to kill a security guard who he addressed using a slur.
Matthew S. Holland, 26 is also accused of accosting a woman and questioning her about a “green card” while friends of the women pushed the man away.
Holland was charged in Kitsap County Superior Court with two counts of malicious harassment, a crime in which the victim is targeted because of his or her perceived ethnicity or race. He has been released.
On Sept. 9, Kitsap County Sheriff’s deputies were called to the Silverdale mall after receiving reports of the disturbance. Holland allegedly told the deputies he is a “white supremacist” and belongs to a local chapter of a white nationalist organization.
Employees of a kiosk told deputies Holland had approached them, made racist remarks and attempted to recruit them to a group called Vanguard National. Holland told the witnesses he attended meetings with a local chapter. A message sent to the group, which advocates against race mixing, was not immediately answered.
One kiosk employee told a deputy that when Holland walked away, he said he was going to accost a group playing Pokémon Go. When the witness said Holland began harassing the group, “he could tell this was not going to end well” so he notified security. One of the kiosk employees said Holland appeared intoxicated and smelled of alcohol.
Deputies wrote that he “aggressively questioned” a woman as to whether she had a “green card.”
The woman, originally from the Philippines, told the Kitsap Sun she has lived in the U.S. for about 30 years and is a citizen. She was surprised by the man accosting her as she was playing Pokémon Go and was focused on the game.
“The guy was talking loud and screaming and saying a lot of bad words,” the woman said.
A friend intervened, blocking Holland from getting close to the woman and pushing him away. She told deputies she was shaking after the interaction and felt that Holland was going to attack her.
A mall security guard, identified as Hispanic, responded to the disturbance and a witness said he heard Holland call the security guard a slur for Mexican immigrants, demanded to see his “green card” and said he would kill him, according to court documents.
Deputies let Holland go when his girlfriend arrived. An arrest warrant was issued Nov. 13 and on Nov. 20 Holland was held at the Jefferson County Jail before being sent to Kitsap County. A trial date is scheduled for Jan. 16.
kitsapsun.com
