Seattle mayor released from hospital after attack

SEATTLE -- Mayor Paul Schell walked out of a hospital on Sunday smiling and with sunglasses covering a black eye, one day after an activist protesting the police killing of a black man struck him with a megaphone.

Bones above and below Schell's right eye were broken, and doctors said they would wait for swelling to subside before deciding if surgery is needed.

The mayor said he considers Saturday's assault, which took place during a community celebration in the predominantly black Central District, an isolated incident.

Black community leaders denounced the attack, visiting Schell at the hospital and praying with him. There were no immediate plans to beef up the mayor's security.

"Mayors are on the front lines," Schell said. "We have to be there in direct contact with the citizens. It's one of the joys of the job, so I'm not going to change."

Police arrested James C. Garrett, 55, a black activist and fringe mayoral candidate running against Schell in this fall's election. He was being held Sunday for investigation of felony assault.

In 1988, Garrett was sentenced to 90 days in jail after grabbing a gun from a University of Washington police sergeant and pointing it at the officer's head. That incident occurred during a demonstration against the university's failure to rehire a popular black lecturer.