Attacked athlete: Lock up criminals
Brutally injured Olympian Kim Glass says getting nearly blinded by a homeless man in Los Angeles has compelled her to become an “agent of change” to stop violent criminals from being left free to strike again.
“You guys are only hearing really about me because I’m an Olympian,” the silver medal-winning volleyball player and model said Wednesday.
The real issue, she said, was that the man charged with flinging a 10-inch metal bolt at her face was free on parole despite having “assaulted many people before.”
Despite parole and probation violations, he’s still “doing the same thing,” she said of Semeon Tesfamariam, 51, who officials confirmed has two felony-assault convictions.
Glass said she wants to be an “agent of change” to “stand up for the victims of these crimes and clean our streets.”
“Because it’s really clear that things have to change,” she said, revealing that some of LA’s “political leaders have reached out” to her, without identifying whom.
“I just I don’t want this to happen anybody else,” she said.
LA County District Attorney
George Gascon — who is facing recall efforts over his soft-on-crime reforms — confirmed that Tesfamariam “has a troubling history of attacking apparently random people with dangerous weapons.”
Gascon said he successfully petitioned to finally get him detained “to protect the public.” But he noted that Tesfamariam might be will be declared unfit to stand trial.
Glass, 37, said her attacker is clearly “not mentally well.”
“I do feel for him a lot,” she said. But “feeling for somebody and holding them accountable doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive.”