Hate crime suspect in assault on trans person previously bailed out of jail by progressive activist group

The suspect in a violent hate crime attack against a transgender person in Seattle was previously bailed out of jail by progressive activist group the Northwest Community Bail Fund after being accused last year of another violent attack against a transgender individual. On Thursday night, the victim told 911 that they were attacked by a group of men using anti-transgender slurs on the 4700 block of University Way Northeast at approximately 6 pm.

The victim was able to get away and sought help and shelter in a nearby business. According to police, officers arrived shortly thereafter and found the suspects were gone. The victim suffered major injuries to their face and stomach during the attack and Seattle Fire was called to the scene to evaluate the victim’s injuries. Through the investigation, officers established probable cause for a hate crime. 

Patrol officers were able to connect a suspect vehicle to a suspect involved in a recent incident who matched the physical characteristics of one of the attackers. Officers located the vehicle after he was observed entering a residence. Containment was established surrounding the residence and police were able to arrest 39-year-old Andre Phillip Karlow without incident.

According to documents obtained by The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI, Karlow is a prolific offender with 30 total arrests since 2003. 13 of those arrests were for felonies.

Karlow was in court Friday and, according to King County Prosecutors, was already the subject of a separate and ongoing King County hate crime case. He was charged on September 18 for an attack on a Sound Transit fare enforcement worker who identifies as transgender. In that case, Karlow pleaded not guilty, and the Court denied a defense motion to reduce his $30,000 bail amount.

According to public court records, Karlow was released in that case after the Northwest Community Bail Fund posted his bond. The fund has advocated for defunding the police and abolishing prisons.

The Northwest Community Bail Fund previously bailed out a man accused of shooting a Washington State trooper 9 times and Allister Clinton Baldwin, a prolific offender who was charged with Seattle’s first homicide of 2023, a year that shattered the all-time high homicide record in the city.

Last April, anti-Israel activists who were arrested for blocking the freeway leading to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport were bailed out of jail by the Northwest Community Bail Fund.

Karlow has now been charged with committing hate crimes in addition to the separate hate crime from September of last year. His bail was set at $200,000.