SEATTLE, Wash. — A man who admitted to running a van into a tent of President Donald Trump supporters in Jacksonville in 2020 is now charged with first-degree assault in connection with a shooting on Seattle’s waterfront that happened in July.
Prosecutors in King County, Washington, say Gregory Timm, 32, approached a man in a wheelchair near Pier 55, claiming the man had stolen valor, and Timm demanded that the man provide identification.
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Video released by prosecutors shows the shooting happened in broad daylight, with many people, including children, in the area.
While the man was opening his wallet, Timm took a veteran patch from the man’s belongings, prosecutors said.
“This caused the victim to arm himself with a knife. The defendant continued to demand the victim show him his ID, and the victim pulled out a holstered airsoft gun,” court documents state.
Video released by prosecutors shows Timm pulling something out of a backpack he was carrying.
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Before the victim could do anything with the knife or airsoft gun, Timm “pulled out his handgun, pointed it at the victim, and shot him point-blank in the chest,” court documents say.
Prosecutors called the shooting “a completely unnecessary act of violence committed by the defendant to a vulnerable victim who was confined to his wheelchair.”
In the 2020 case of Timm running into the tent of Trump supporters, he was found guilty of criminal mischief in April 2021 and was sentenced to 60 days in jail, which he had already served.
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For the Seattle shooting, Action News Jax’s sister station KIRO reports that Timm is being held on $750,000 bail.
Prosecutors in Washington said Timm “is likely to commit a violent offense if released from custody.”
KIRO reports that prosecutors said a person cannot claim self-defense if they provoked it. Timm is due back in court on August 18, KIRO said.
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