Seattle Police say an Auburn man left a death threat on Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan’s main office telephone line on April 27.
According to court records, Rashidi Slaughter, 42, identified himself by name on the voicemail, which likewise recorded his phone number, and declared: “I’m going to kill you and I am going to kill your whole family. Do you understand me?”
Police said Durkan and her staff took the threat seriously.
On April 29, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed a single charge of felony harassment against Slaughter.
As of May 4, Slaughter was in King County Jail on $150,000 bail because there is ample reason to believe he will commit a violent offense, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Yessenia Manzo told the judge at the bail hearing.
“Given the current threat to kill, the report of mental health concerns in combination with his criminal history, the state has significant victim and community safety concerns,” Manzo said.
Slaughter’s arraignment is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. May 13 in room E1201A of the King County Courthouse in Seattle.
Here, according to the certification for determination of probable cause prepared by Officer Christopher Myers of the Seattle Police Department and forwarded to the prosecutor’s office, is a summary of what happened.
At 3:04 a.m. April 27, according to court papers, Slaughter called Durkan’s Seattle office and left the following voicemail:
“Ms. Jenny Durkan, this will be an easy game for you to play,” court records quote Slaughter as saying. “I’m not going to tell you my name but my telephone number is … and guess what, my name is on the answering machine. If you don’t let me put a civil rights no-contact order on anybody I want to, guess what, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to but I’m going to kill you and gonna kill your whole family. Do you understand?…
“…When somebody’s killing and hurting and torturing you and the whole state of Washington is behind it, including (unintelligible) my mother … my name is Rashidi Slaughter. I’m gonna figure out how to get civil no-contact orders on the whole state of Washington, every man, woman and child of every nationality, including the whole [expletive] government and I don’t want any police in my life ever again. I want protective custody away from you white Ku Klux Klan skinhead Aryan Nation white supremacists. Now you gimme a call, [expletive],” the voicemail concludes.
At 10:04 a.m. that same day, according to court records, one of the mayor’s front desk assistants heard the message, believed the threat was real, and reported it to her supervisors and then to the Seattle Police Department. SPD confirmed the phone number did in fact belong to Slaughter.
According to court records, a police records inquiry turned up 71 arrests and seven previous felony convictions, among them: felony harassment, 2013; custodial assault, 2008; third-degree assault, 2006; and second-degree attempted robbery, 2006.
According to court records, Slaughter’s legal history is likewise checkered with a number of misdemeanor harassment and felony convictions and violations of misdemeanor no-contact orders.
According to court records, a Seattle police officer took Slaughter into custody later that same day without incident, although he refused to answer questions.
According to court records, Slaughter has been diagnosed with several mental health disorders, and his family confirmed his deteriorating mental health.
As of March 2021, Slaughter, a longtime Tacoma resident, was living with his brother in Auburn.
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