Spokane

Which church/religion was he ordained by? Name and Shame.

An ordained minister accused of drugging and raping a woman and molesting a child was arrested in Spokane Friday.

Russell Anders, 55, was arrested Friday morning at his home on the 1800 block of West Gardener Avenue in Spokane by a United States Marshals’ task force on an outstanding federal warrant.

Anders is charged with second-degree rape and first-degree voyeurism in Spokane.

On multiple occasions, a woman woke up after having drinks with Anders feeling off, according to court documents. She eventually was able to access his laptop and found videos of Anders having sex with her while she was unconscious after putting sleeping pills in her drinks, according to court records.

She also found sexually explicit videos of children on the laptop, she told police.

Anders was indicted last year in federal court in Seattle on one count of producing child pornography, along with possessing depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

He also has pending Seattle cases, including charges of child molestation and sexual exploitation of a minor, among other similar crimes.

While the Gender and Sexuality Alliance is a student group, Serrott says it's become a safe community space for all queer folks at the college, not just the students — which is why it was especially painful for the club's sole annual event to be canceled.

To Serrott, the cancellation is indicative of the larger anti-queer rhetoric that's growing in North Idaho. It's become more common, especially online, to baselessly accuse LGBTQ+ people of being "groomers" or pedophiles.

"We have allowed a certain political group, or certain political ideologies, to define what it means to be queer in a way that is not true," Serrott says. "I see us bowing to these political pressures as giving fire to those definitions. We're not groomers. We are not obscene. It's almost unfathomable to me to think otherwise."

Serrott says that just underscores the importance of the event for NIC's queer community.

"For some students and faculty, it's their first time ever getting to experience or play with ... not only drag, but gender expression, too," he explains. "It's really a space for creativity, expression and belonging."

Jeff Noble, who owns Noble Consulting and Expert Witness Services, was hired by Spokane police to evaluate Hilton’s actions. When investigating fellow law enforcement officers, it’s not uncommon to outside use of force experts.

Deputies are trained on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Graham v. Connor, that requires officers to balance the intrusion into an individual’s right with the government interests at stake, Noble wrote. They must consider the severity of the crime, whether the suspect poses a threat to officers or others and whether the suspect is actively resisting or trying to flee.

Hilton mistakenly believed that being in a Spokane Valley park after dark was a misdemeanor when in reality it was a civil infraction that does not warrant an arrest. Regardless, Noble found that Hilton’s “uses of force were objectively unreasonable and inconsistent with generally accepted police practices.”

The sergeant did not engage in de-escalation tactics, including slowing down the interaction, the report said.

“Here, the violation was very minor, did not involve weapons or violence, and there was no need for haste,” Noble wrote. “Sergeant Hilton radioed for back-up deputies and while Mr. Hinton did not cooperate with Sergeant Hilton’s demand for identification, he did not present any imminent threat. Any reasonable officer would have attempted to engage in de-escalation techniques to slow the situation.”

Instead, Noble wrote, Hilton made comments to escalate the situation, such as telling Hinton he would probably end up in jail and that he was going to get hurt.

The sergeant said he used force on Hinton because he was scared the man was reaching for a weapon. Noble noted that Hinton never appears to reach for any kind of weapon in the video and did not make any verbal threats to the sergeant.

Hilton continued to punch Hinton after forcibly removing him from his vehicle.

“There is no evidence that at the moment Sergeant Hilton delivered those strikes that Mr. Hinton presented anything more than a low level of active resistance by not giving Sergeant Hilton his hands,” Noble wrote.

Hilton had no standing to make any arrest, Noble found, and therefore any force used would be excessive.

“Even if Sergeant Hilton was making a lawful custodial arrest, I am of the opinion that his uses of force against Mr. Hilton were excessive, objectively unreasonable and inconsistent with generally accepted police practices,” Noble wrote.

In February this year, Spokane police investigators concluded there was probable cause to charge Sgt. Hilton with second-degree assault. The charges were referred to the Yakima County Prosecutor's office, which is still investigating.

The chat logs — which were obtained through a public records request and viewed by the Inlander this week — shed additional light on Sgt. Hilton's demeanor immediately after the violent arrest.

Joshua Maurer, an attorney representing Hinton, says the tone of the chat messages is "pretty sickening."

It's concerning that any officer — especially a sergeant — would make fun of and laugh about a citizen they had just assaulted and arrested, Maurer says.

"Sgt. Hilton was proud of his actions," Maurer says. "He told the dispatcher to look at the booking photo because that was evidence of the 'lesson' Sgt. Hilton taught Mr. Hinton."

Maurer says it's also troubling that Sgt. Hilton saw Hinton's perceived status as a "No Person" as justification for assaulting him to the point of breaking his ribs and puncturing a lung.

Despite knowing the communications would be recorded, Sgt. Hilton "shows no remorse, or even concern over being disciplined," Maurer says. "Instead, he is laughing and bragging about what he had done."

I'm happy to see the city doing something to help people instead of punishing them. I am especially excited to see the expansion of Spokane Fire Department's CARES program

A permanent location for a Spokane farmer's market would be fantastic. The article mentions possible space for several vendors. I just hope the vendors will be selling actual food and produce, not candles or jewelry.

Also, does anyone know where this scale house in question is located?

Hi. So yeah, I think I’ve got a fuel leak in my 31 year old Volvo wagon. Just wondering where y’all get your cars worked on.

I just replaced the radiator myself after having gone a few months not driving it and when I moved it out of the garage I got that multi color shine in the driveway that says gasoline spill. I’m not super enthusiastic about attempting to tackle that myself.

Spokane's new USL League 1 team is revealing their new name and crest July 21st at Brick West Brewing

What market do you like to frequent in the summer? My go to is the one on Perry, but I want to check some of the others out before summer ends.

Welcome to a (the?) Spokane, WA community. Looking for fellow Spokanites to moderate the community, so please reach out if you're interested!