KOMO reporter Jonathan Choe is being targeted on social media for his recent reporting.
Choe has worked at the Seattle ABC affiliate since 2020. His series of reports, called Project Seattle, focus on the city’s homelessness issue.
He recently posted images of people who allegedly tried to stop him from recording in front of the Seattle City Hall. One of them, a man he called “orange bandana man,” can be seen harassing Choe on video.
Controversial journalist Andy Ngo posted screenshots of Choe’s tweets and warned about people threatening Choe with violence and accusing him of being a fascist.
Ngo was attacked twice in 2019 while reporting in Portland. In one attack, he was punched and also hit with bear spray. In another, he suffered a brain injury after being punched and hit with a milkshake.
“Basically we need to do to Choe what Portland has done to Ngo,” wrote one Twitter user re-tweeted by Ngo. “Anyone got a good milkshake handy?”
“I think we could make Jonathan Choe so widely hated that he physically cannot film in the city,” wrote another Twitter user. “He needs to know he has eyes on him at all times.”
In response, Choe tweeted at Ngo by saying, “looks like they want to target Asian American journalists,” and added, “I wonder what the response would be if we were a different race or ethnicity?”
We asked Choe about the story, but haven’t heard back.