By Caleb Hutton
Charging documents paint a clearer picture of the lead-up to an alleged assault on a pregnant woman who was smoking a cigarette in downtown Bellingham.
For background, here’s the story we ran on the assault.
I transcribed the charging documents, keeping punctuation and phrasing exactly the same but with the victim’s name blacked out.
“Reports received form law enforcement indicate that on September 12, 2012, (the woman), who is 8 mos pregnant, was walking on Holly Street smoking a cigarette. Justin Palmer pulled off to the side of the road in his blue Dodge Pickup truck next to (the woman). With his passenger window down, he yelled to her “who smokes when you are pregnant.” She replied, “obviously I do.” Mr. Palmer then yelled out the window at her saying she was a dirty white trash whore. (The woman) did not reply and continued to walk down Holly Street. Mr. Palmer yelled at her again, telling her that she better put the smoke out now. At the same time, he reached into the center console of his truck and pulled out a black handgun. Mr. Palmer pointed the gun directly at (the woman) who was approximately 10 feet away from his passenger window. When the light turned green he stepped on the gas and accelerated through the intersection on Holly Street. As Mr. Palmer was so irate (the woman) was fearful that he was going to shoot her or he was going to come back and harm her. She called 911 and gave a description of the truck and the driver.
“Officer’s spotted the vehicle and stopped the truck and contacted the driver. (The woman) was transported to the location and she identified Mr. Palmer as the driver as the man who had pointed the gun at her. Officer’s obtained consent to search the vehicle and found two black glock handguns in the center console of the truck. Mr. Palmer admitted to the confrontation.”
The story was picked up all around the globe. The Daily Mail, a British newspaper, found alleged Facebook photos of Palmer, who lives in Sudden Valley. I haven’t been able to confirm if those photos are legit.
Palmer was charged Monday, Sept. 17, with second-degree assault while armed with a firearm.
Mr. Palmer is so totally wrong on all this, other than the initial inquiry of the pregnant woman.
I’d love to hear her explanation of why she chooses to smoke and carry a child. Maybe we could do this over a few beers.
She probably lives off the government
Granted smoking while pregnant is not a good thing according to some medical experts, but it is also the parents choice to take those risks..
Yelling at her, (expressing your opinion) is alright, but beyond that it is not called for, and obviously the wrong choice for Mr. Palmer to make..
So who’s making the right choices here, apparently neither one of them…
Oh well….
Well this is a clear case of big brother watching. We, the readers don’t have any idea of this woman’s situation. Trying to break a cigarette addiction is tough. Maybe she’s trying to quit. Maybe she’s been working with her doctor on this. It seems to me that the “public” always jumps to conclusions when they don’t have all the facts. So this Justin Palmer thinks that cigarette smoking is bad for the unborn child, I think that shooting the mother would be worse for the unborn child. Geez!
Why is everyone focusing on the woman smoking when the real issue is the unstable idiot with 2 handguns in his truck ? He is the issue not her . I mean your President smokes for gods sake.
Last I checked the woman’s behavior/actions, while offensive to most, is legal and its her body.
The man had ZERO right or moral justification for confronting her.
If she had a similar mindset as his, she would have pulled a handgun from her purse
and emphatically and correctly to mind his own business.
Ah, tea party logic. Mittens should add Palmer to his team of defense advisers. You know, to fire up his base and all.