The Violent 'John Doe'
A man arrested for peddling suspected stolen goods in Seattle fights back against officers and is sent to jail for contempt of court.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Yesterday afternoon a suspicious looking individual was endeavoring to dispose of some clothing on the streets, offering it at an extraordinarily low rate. The police were notified of the chap's commercial venture, and he was taken into custody on suspicion of having stolen his stock in trade. He became wildly indignant at this, and fought with the officers and the citizens who came to their aid in a most ferocious manner. One gentleman received a pretty severe blow in the face. In Justice Cann's court the prisoner again boiled over, and made an attempt to clean things out generally. He was finally disposed of by being sent to jail on a charge of contempt of court, and it is to be hoped that he will be left there long enough to cool down. He refused to give any name, and so wears the cognomen of that long suffering individual, John Doe.
“In Justice Cann's court the prisoner again boiled over, and made an attempt to clean things out generally.”
Public disorder and the suspicion surrounding unhoused or transient individuals remains a contentious and recurring theme in Seattle's civic policing, echoing how the 'John Doe' arrest was treated as routine local theater.
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