Advocates decry Bothell police raids of 5 Asian-owned massage parlors

Immigrant rights advocates demanded the city of Bothell investigate its police department for "anti-Asian violence" on Monday, about one week after investigators raided five massage parlors suspected of allowing prostitution.

During a rally outside Seattle's King County Jail, advocates accused Bothell police of targeting the businesses, traumatizing owners and employees in the process.

"You're patting your own back for solving fabricated issues based on your own sexist, racist ideas, and Asian massage workers are paying the price," rally organizer Lee Chen said.

In a phone call Monday afternoon, Bothell police Capt. Mike Johnson said "there might have been a misunderstanding" by advocates about the investigation.

Officers executed search warrants at the five properties after investigators presented probable cause to believe prostitution was happening there, Johnson said. Last Tuesday, police found "indications of illicit activity" inside all five parlors, including lubricant, condoms and employees dressed in lingerie, he said.

Inside one business, Johnson said, officers found a female employee with a "male solicitor who both confirmed they had been interrupted during a sex act.

"When we asked, ‘Did you guys agree to a payment for that?' they said, ‘Yes,'" Johnson said.

Police arrested a woman, 50, of Woodinville, last Tuesday and booked her into King County Jail for investigation of promoting prostitution and human trafficking, jail records show. She owns two spas located less than two blocks from Bothell's police headquarters, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in King County District Court.

Bothell police started investigating one of the spas in September after finding hundreds of postings with the business's phone number published on websites known for hosting online ads soliciting sex for money, according to the affidavit.

Officers interviewed a 22-year-old employee of that spa last Tuesday who said her boss brings women from China to work at the parlor and other locations, the affidavit states. The woman reported she and other employees perform sex acts in exchange for free room and board, along with money the owner gives them at the end of each week, according to the affidavit.

The spa owner was released Wednesday from custody, court records show. She did not immediately respond to inquiries Monday.

King County prosecuting attorney's office spokesperson Casey McNerthney said "there is follow-up investigation needed," but declined to provide more information about the case in an email Monday.

While the spa owner was the only person arrested last Tuesday, the Bothell Fire Department shut down all five parlors after finding fire code violations inside each of them, police said. In a statement Monday afternoon, Bothell police said investigators found "makeshift sleeping quarters and kitchens alongside dangerous conditions" inside some of the properties.

The police department did not release the names of the three parlors not owned by the arrested woman that officers searched last Tuesday, or describe evidence linking those businesses to their investigation.

In their statement Monday afternoon, Bothell police said officers did not use force on anyone while executing search warrants, and that their investigation should help curb "activity linked to coercion, trafficking, and harm.

Advocates described a different, more chaotic scene during Monday morning's rally.

Bothell police arrived at the parlors without warning last Tuesday, breaking down some of the business's doors, toppling furniture, ripping security cameras from the walls and seizing money from workers, advocates said.

Officers then dragged some parlor workers into police cars for questioning without reading them their Miranda rights or providing interpreters for those who didn't speak fluent English, according to the rally organizers. Some of the employees later described feeling pressured to say they had engaged in sex work or were trafficking victims, advocates said.

According to the advocates, the raids resulted in five Chinese-owned businesses getting shut down not because of prostitution or human trafficking, but because of fire code violations. For the business owners and their employees, last Tuesday also brought fears of deportation, advocates said.

Advocates said the arrests were a publicized effort to "clean up" the city ahead of this summer's FIFA Men's World Cup matches in Seattle.

Rally organizers demanded Bothell's city manager investigate the police department's conduct, as well as put a moratorium on raids of massage parlors across King County ahead of World Cup matches.

"When is the last time you heard of a business getting their doors kicked in for (fire code violations)?" organizer JH Chen said. "Operating a fire code safe business is important, and so is being protected from targeted state violence."

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