Darran Bruce is a Seattle business owner and creator of The DJ Sessions, best known for its DJ truck that plays electronic dance music, primarily on Capitol Hill. On August 1 around 8 p.m., he and his employees reported being victims of property damage and hate speech from a still unidentified person while operating along Broadway.
The DJ Sessions is no stranger to occasional disapproving passersby, according to Bruce. He explained that “driving around with a loud stereo system in the city can attract some unwanted finger gestures and vocal things thrown our way from time to time. We typically just wave them off, smile, and say ‘thank you and have a nice day.’”
He told to the SGN that on principle, The DJ Sessions tries its best to remain mindful of others, only operating on Friday nights from 6 to 10 p.m., all while keeping the truck moving so that no one area is subject to music for an unreasonable amount of time.
The DJ Sessions also keeps the truck route centered around Seattle’s nightlife areas. As Bruce pointed out, “Our typical pattern runs through the Pike-Pine corridor, Capitol Hill, around 12th, up and down Broadway, and rinse and repeat.”
Before the recent incident, Bruce explained, he had encountered this person several times before. He and his employees noticed that the man “sits out front [of the Bait Shop on Mercer Street and Broadway], and as we drive by, heckles us, screams at us vulgarities and other hate messaging I dare not repeat.”
On Aug. 1, this man began to heckle, according to Bruce. “He was yelling very derogatory slurs, racial slurs, what you would consider hate speech, anti-Gay rhetoric, things of that nature,” he said.
However, in this instance the man threw a glass object into the back of the truck, shattering near three of Bruce’s employees and cutting the hand of one. “As we turned around and headed back south on Broadway, I noticed that the gentleman, the perpetrator, came out to the side of the road,” Bruce said, “and he was waiting for traffic to go by. And as the traffic stopped, I saw him run back behind the truck.”
Video footage from The DJ Sessions livestream recording that night that Bruce shared with the SGN shows the man walk out into the street to throw the glass object directly into the back of the truck. (here is the video link)
“I jumped out of the truck,” Bruce related. “I grabbed my can of pepper spray, because I didn’t know what he was going to do, after realizing in those few quick moments that he had done something to assault and damage our vehicle by throwing something in the back.”
The video footage shows Bruce using the pepper spray immediately afterward on the man, who then makes his way back to the sidewalk. “If you have a problem with a person or a business, don’t resort to violence,” Bruce requested.
Bruce has since filed a complaint with the Seattle Police Department to investigate further, but they have yet been able to come up with any leads, as he has been unable to provide a name or other identifying information.
Now taking matters into his own hands, Bruce is reaching out to the community to get involved.
“We’re hoping that the community can come together and maybe identify this individual so that proper charges can be filed against this person. And some justice can be done,” Bruce said. “Because now we’re scared to even operate our business in that area of Capitol Hill. And I live on and work on Capitol Hill.”
Bruce talked about his 51 years of being a Seattle resident, and spending eight living in Capitol Hill. “Very disappointing to see this kind of behavior still taking place in such a vibrant area,” he lamented.
Those with any information regarding the identity of the person in question are encouraged to report it to the Seattle Police Department Nonemergency Line at 206-625-5011 or online at https://spdonlinereporting.seattle.gov/ .
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