Long Hair David's case is finally settled

author : Drew Hendricks topic : Long Hair David | police misconduct

by Drew Hendricks

"Long Hair" David Fawver was finally offered a plea bargain by the Thurston County Prosecutor, to which he pleaded Monday April,10th before Judge Paula Casey.

The case stems from a misunderstanding in Sylvester Park in February of 2004, which resulted in charges being laid against Long Hair for assaulting one of three Washington State Troopers who confronted him. The alleged victim is Sgt. Michael Dahl, who heads the WSP's Capitol Campus unit.

Long Hair plead to two misdemeanor charges: obstructing an officer and possession of an apparent weapon. The 6" bundle of sage Long Hair was using in his religious observance was taken to be a flaming plank by the frightened professional police officers, who attacked Long Hair by kicking him so hard he flew backwards onto the ground, where he was handcuffed. He was held in jail for about 24 hours, and released on his own recognizance. Then he was charged with a third degree felony, assault of an officer.

For most of the last two years, Long Hair's activism has suffered as he assumed that this felony, which would have been his third, would end up putting him in prison for the rest of his life. His assigned counsel Michael Jordan of Tacoma did little to assure him of any other fate. Finally, after numerous public appeals, a local anonymous donor stepped up and paid private attorney LeGrand Jones to represent Long Hair. A deal was struck, and on Monday David apologized to the court and accepted that deal.

Long Hair will serve at least 240 hours of community service, with a minimum of 40 hours per month to work off that debt to society, plus a $250 crime victim's fee and court costs of around $110.

As the founder of the Emma Goldman Youth and Homeless Outreach Project (EGYHOP), Long Hair is familiar with long hours spent serving his community as a volunteer. He's been serving people on the street, regardless of any consideration other than need, for almost 12 years now. In his apology, Long Hair noted that he had 'failed to serve my community in the best way I could - I treat homeless people downtown with compassion every day, I should not have lost that compassion just because someone was wearing a uniform.'

The officers who misunderstood Long Hair's religious practice and took the sage bundle's sparks to be a cigarette dropping to the ground were not in court to offer their part of the apology. That's why we call it the "Just Us" System.