Man pepper-sprayed in face speaks out about incident

SEATTLE — A man who says he was pepper-sprayed in the face by Seattle police came forward to speak about the incident outside a crime meeting Thursday night.

Hudson Williams-Eynon told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News that he's the man in a YouTube video in which an officer is seen spraying someone in the face as police were dealing with a flash mob party on Capitol Hill that moved into the streets last weekend.

"(He) came towards me, sprayed me in the face, grabbed me by my shirt, threw me onto my face on the street," Williams-Eynon said.

Williams-Eynon was attending a community meeting where Seattle's new East Precinct Commander was questioned about the incident.

"It's really hard to sit in a room with a police officer addressing violence in the community when i feel like violence has just been done by the police to me," Williams-Eynon said.

Captain Ron Wilson said he could not comment on the pepper spray incident because it's now under review.

"The decision to ask the dance party to move out of the street, onto the sidewalk based on the information the event commander was getting -- I think was a sound reason for that," Wilson said.

The video does not show any encounter between Williams-Eynon and the officer right before the pepper spray incident, but Seattle police have said the man was sprayed after he kicked the commander in the knee.

"I can't comment on what I did or didn't do before the incident that was caught on camera but I can say nobody deserves to have that happen to them," Williams-Eynon said.

Williams-Eynon was arrested and could be charged with assaulting an officer.

The East Precinct commander said the department is working to improve community relations, pointing to a peaceful protest Thursday night.

KIRO