Bellingham family moves forward after hate crime sentencing

Washington state reports more hate crimes than most other states. We've ranked in the top five states since 2018, according to FBI statistics. In one case last summer, a 43-year-old man named Paul Bittner attacked an 11-year-old Bellingham boy who was walking back to school from a field trip. Bittner was sentenced last week to three-plus years in prison for committing assault and a hate crime. DeVante Blow is the boy's father. He talked to KUOW’s Kim Malcolm about the case.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Kim Malcolm: Can you tell us what happened to your son?

DeVante Blow: So, my son attends a middle school here in Bellingham. On that day, they were going to the Pickford Theater. It's a movie theater. They walked there. It's a yearly tradition that they've had since before I was born, I'm sure. On their way back from the Pickford to their middle school, they were walking single file. My son was talking to one of his good friends, and a man crossed the street, approached them, said some racial epithets, punched my son in the face. He then continued to spew some words I don't want to repeat, to not only my son, but to his friend as well.

I got a call from my son. He was running back to the school because he had just been assaulted. He's like, 'Dad, Dad, I just got punched in the face.' And so, I'm thinking, maybe he got into his first schoolyard fight. And then his teacher gets on the phone. She said, 'Mr. Blow, you have to come to the school right now. Your son was just assaulted by a man, and we're all running back to the school.'

No parent wants to get that call. What were you thinking in that moment when the teacher told you that this was a stranger, this was no schoolyard fight?

It's one of those things where your body just moves without your mind thinking too much. I was almost in a haze, to be honest with you. I was trying to comprehend, what does she mean by a grown man punched my son in the face?

My office is about 15 minutes away from his school. I'm zooming down there, since my son is my pride and joy, and the only thing I'm thinking is, 'he better be okay, he better be okay.' And just to be calm as well, when I go into the school. I have to show a sense of calm, because if he sees me calm, then he'll be okay as well. So, there's a lot going through my mind, but at the same time, it was all a blur.

How was your son when you found him?

I think he, too, was in a blur. He was calm. He had a little bit of blood on his lip, but other than that, he was sitting in the nurse's office. When I came in, he got up and gave me a big old hug. Then I asked him, 'Hey, are you okay?' It was the first question I asked him. He said, 'Yes, I'm okay. 'And he actually asked about his friend that he was walking with, to see if I had heard if she was okay as well. So, he had the wherewithal to even think about someone else.

Criminal charges were pressed. There was a court case, a conviction. What do you understand now about why this man, Paul Bittner, attacked your son in this way?

What I understand is that he was in a mentally unstable state. However, he does have a history of being violent, and that's in California as well. So, I can't just give him a pass of being mentally unstable, because this is a pattern of violent crimes. So, I understand that he has some demons that he has to work on.

As parents, we feel quite protective about our kids. I know I would have had strong feelings towards someone who would have done that to my child. How would you describe your feelings towards him now?

I’d tell him that I hate what he did. Ultimately, I don't hate Paul. I don't know him from Adam. However, the position that he put us in as a family will take a long time for us to recover from. My son, we put him in therapy immediately after what had happened, and got his teeth taken care of as well. And the community was amazing. The dentist didn't even charge us for the work that was done, and sent us a nice card as well. So that was very awesome. However, the damage that was done mentally and emotionally — you can't put a barometer on it. So that's the part that sucks the most about all this.

Can you talk a little bit about how your son is doing now, one year later?

He's ready to move forward. He's an amazing young man. He just got back from California at my dad's ranch and had a really good time. He's going out to be the starting quarterback for his middle school team, so he's just really focused on that. So, he's himself.

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Listen to the interview by clicking the play button above.