On July 29, 2024, Alex Childers and their partner Matthew Goldman were attempting to serve medical malpractice papers to a doctor in Snohomish County. After repeatedly being turned away by the receptionist, the pair stepped outside and were met by Clifford Helbert. A fight broke out.
Though police reviewed video evidence showing Helbert, 43, as the primary aggressor and spewing homophobic slurs, among others, at Childers, they charged both parties with assault; one report even neglected to document the anti-Queer rhetoric altogether.
"Honestly, it's like they were not interested at all. We had to shove the video in their face — nearly — and force them to watch," Childers told the SGN. "It was strange, because they were really [uninterested] in what [Matt and I] had to say. We really had to push it."
The incident
Childers, 35, and Goldman, 24, visited Optum a couple of times that day to serve paperwork to Dr. Chiyang Wu. Goldman went into the clinic alone the first time, and the practice manager said the papers could be left there, or Goldman could wait until Dr. Wu was done with patients to serve him on his way out, according to video evidence. Goldman said that it would take merely 30 seconds to serve the paperwork and that it had to be served directly to the provider, but the practice manager was insistent.
The medical malpractice civil suit relates to Dr. Wu's alleged handling of a work-related spinal injury. Childers said Dr. Wu intentionally refused further imaging and other requests from specialists when their injury wasn't improving.
Later, the couple entered the clinic together.
"I came down to explain the situation," Childers said. "[that] 'it's just the individual doctor. We aren't trying to cause any problems, but also, I do want to explain that if you try to help him "escape" or "get away," that's interference with due process.' ... They got upset. I started to get upset too, but I didn't say anything. I kept control of myself. I let the situation go."
The pair walked outside to their car, and Childers said they began venting to Goldman because it had been a long and arduous process. Childers thought the conversation was private, and said they were pacing due to anxiety.
Helbert's written statement following the incident said he was at Optum with his girlfriend at the time, and claimed the two were harassing the receptionist. In his statement, he said they stormed out of the facility and that he and his girlfriend went outside and followed Goldman and Childers to their car.
"They were still in the parking lot plotting about what else they were going to do. I went back in and told the receptionist what they were saying and what they were driving. When I came back out, I was worried about what they might do. So I asked them to leave," Helbert's statement said. "The guy in the red [Childers] got in my face, yelling at me close enough to almost kiss me, like four times. Trash-talking me. I spit toward him, and he punched me in the face."
Childers is a former Boy Scout and a Coast Guard veteran, and said they know not to leave risks unchecked and to always be prepared.
Childers and Goldman said Helbert approached and whispered "faggot," then went to his car to get cigarettes and to put a knife under his waistband. Police reports do not mention Helbert being armed with a knife.
Video of the incident
Goldman recorded the incident. The video starts with Childers standing next to the passenger-side door of their car, within the parking line. Helbert is about six inches from Childers' face and says, "You fucking harassed her." Childers says they did not harass the receptionist. Helbert responds, "The fuck you didn't. I just recorded you planning your little fucking plan. Starting at you while you're over here, avoiding eye contact like a punk."
At this point, the practice manager steps outside, approaches the three, and tells them to step away from each other or she will call the cops. Childers tells her that they and Goldman were standing next to their car. Childers turns to Goldman and tells him to call the police, according to video evidence, to which Helbert responds, "Nobody broke the fucking law besides this retard."
Helbert then tells the two to get in their car and to "fucking leave," according to the video. After absorbing insults and attempting to explain the situation through Helbert's aggressive hand motions, Childers asks, "Where are your dentures, bitch?"
Helbert's written statement claims Childers got in his face and was trash-talking, yet Goldman's video depicts otherwise. "I spit toward him and he punched me in the face," Helbert's statement said.
Goldman's video evidence shows Helbert spitting directly into Childers' face, which constitutes as assault in the fourth degree under RCW 9A.36.041.2. The video shows Childers throwing a right-hand punch to Helbert's jaw, and the two ended up in a scuffle.
At this point in the video, the practice manager calls the police as Childers lay on top of Helbert, with their left arm stretched backward around Helbert's neck. Childers said to call the police and that they were restraining Helbert, who begins to panic and states that he can't breathe. Video evidence also shows Helbert ripping out a chunk of Childers' hair.
Helbert's girlfriend approaches to break up the fight: she pushes Childers' head and pulls their arm off of Helbert without any pushback from Childers, but Helbert keeps trying to approach them. His girlfriend uses her body as a shield to keep them separated, but Helbert continues to shout at Childers, including saying, "You're fucking dead," as shown in the video.
Childers tells Helbert he spat on them, that it was a biohazard, and that Helbert was going to jail.
"You just fucking hit me, you fucking little cunt!" Helbert says.
Childers says that their response was self-defense.
"You're coming with me, cupcake," Helbert responds.
Childers replies, "Okay, cool." Helbert says, "Yeah, I want to go and butt-rape you in prison, faggot!"
On the video, Childers notes how this is a hate crime. Helbert repeatedly says, "Fuck you" while trying to push past his girlfriend to approach.
Responding officers charged Childers with second-degree assault and Helbert with fourth-degree assault, but neither were arrested.
"I wasn't squeezing — it would have been way worse," Childers told the SGN. "There would have been rub burns, there would have maybe been some bleeding from rub burns, there would have been maybe some bruising already if I had actually put pressure on it. He wouldn't have been able to make any sound whatsoever, let alone scream and talk multiple times if I was choking him. I was only holding him in a lock, but the cops were adamant to try to act like I was choking him."
In his witness statement, Helbert wrote: "When Toni Davis and I exited the doctor's office, I realized that he and his associate were were parked very, very close to where we were parked. We walked to our vehicle, and Tonis Davis got in. I stayed out for a moment observing what I felt was a mentally disturbed individual ranting legal-speak while pacing around in what appeared to me [to be] a manic state. While Mr. Childers behaved obnoxiously while vaping like a chimney, his associate had the camera on his phone rolling.
"It is my belief that mentally disturbed individuals shouldn't be physically harmed, because their circumstances are already difficult. So it wasn't my intention to do him any more harm, but I couldn't let him continue to harass people any further."
Law enforcement incident response
The Snohomish Police Department and the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office respond jointly to calls, including this July incident. The SGN received a comment from Courtney O'Keefe, the director of communications of the Sheriff's Office:
"In this case, both parties were involved in a mutual assault, where each party assaulted the other. Deputies referred charges for both individuals; neither of them were taken into custody at the scene. For incidents like this, deputies document the details, collect video, gather witness statements, and upload everything as evidence. The case is then forwarded to the Prosecuting Attorney's Office for further review.
"In the case report, the deputy noted the language used after the altercation. Once the case is reviewed by the Prosecuting Attorney, they will decide what charges to file. If they believe the legal threshold is met, they will add charges related to the malicious harassment or hate crime."
Responding deputies Jonathan Cissell, Samuel Winningham, and Ronald Smarr noted how Helbert called Childers a "faggot" in their reports, yet Deputy Phillip James neglected to include that information, according to his narrative report.
"They wouldn't even acknowledge the hate crime regardless of us showing them the video, and the fact that he...called me 'faggot,' and basically passively threatened to rape me in jail," Childers told the SGN.
The Sheriff's Office did not respond to further SGN requests for comment.
Body camera footage
Helbert initially refused to be seen by a medic, according to body camera footage. Responding officers did not ask Childers if they wanted to be seen by a medic, even though they were missing a chunk of hair and received a diagnosis of having a minimal middle finger fracture on July 31, two days later. Childers also asked officers for something to wipe the spit off their face, which officers did not provide, according to the footage.
Dep. James' body camera shows him arriving on scene and approaching Helbert to ask what happened in a soft and calm tone — which changed during interviews with witnesses. Helbert has difficulty expressing himself, but says that he was trying to ensure Childers and Goldman wouldn't be an issue.
"I told him he needed to leave. He got in my face and trash-talked me. Like hard, like right in my face — almost kissed me," Helbert says on the video.
Dep. James then enters the clinic and asks the practice manager if she was having issues with the people outside. The practice manager explains how Goldman attempted to serve papers to Dr. Wu, and that his options were to drop the papers off at the desk or wait until the provider was finished with patients for the day.
The practice manager highlights how Helbert initiated the physical aggression, that he spit, and that Childers responded by throwing a punch.
"My doc is wondering if he should stay in here or if he should leave. What should he do? He's done with his day," the practice manager says.
The footage also shows Dep. James asking Dr. Wu if he wanted to receive the papers, to which Dr. Wu responded, "Not today," and the two laugh together.
"I guess you know they're coming at some point, so I don't know if you just want them to get it over with, or you want to avoid the situation for now and deal with it later?" Dep. James asks.
Dr. Wu says he wants to deal with the situation later. Dep. James asks where he parked and suggests he wait until responding officers disperse Childers, Goldman, and Helbert.
Less than six minutes into the footage, Dep. James refers to Childers and Goldman as "assholes" for trying to serve paperwork to the doctor. Around seven minutes, Dep. James again refers to the couple as "assholes" when speaking with other responding officers.
While recounting the incident to other deputies, Dep. Cissell and another noted how Helbert first spat on Childers, which the practice manager already told Dep. James — something Dep. James left out of the conversation with his comrades.
Charging hate crimes
Sarah Johnson, the deputy prosecuting attorney at the Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney's Office (SCPAO) said there are two ways a hate crime can unfold in Washington.
The first are obviously bias acts, like defacing property of Jewish people with Nazi symbols. Johnson said other criminal conduct can sometimes be elevated to a hate crime offense if the prosecutor can prove that the conduct was driven by one's perception of the victim, like intentionally and maliciously acting based on another person's race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, or mental, physical or sensory disabilities.
"Hate speech is not criminal behavior — it is generally protected by the First Amendment. However, what people say surrounding the commission of a crime can often be helpful in determining the motive for committing the crime," Johnson said.
A hate crime offense constitutes a felony, and the SCPAO handles all felonies committed within the county. After officer investigations, police reports and related materials are sent to the SCPAO, which reviews them and determines whether they agree with law enforcement that a crime has been committed.
"In their reports, law enforcement officers identify what laws they believe were broken, but only deputy prosecuting attorneys have the authority to file charges," Johnson said. "We don't receive too many referrals for this type of offense — as of now we have fewer than 30 cases that are either filed as hate crime offenses or are waiting to be reviewed for potential filing of a hate crime offense."
Johnson said Helbert was referred for consideration of a fourth-degree assault charge, and that it will be reviewed for all possible criminal law violations, including a hate crime offense.
"We often receive requests from law enforcement to review cases for filing as hate crime offenses that we are ultimately unable to charge as such, and we often charge cases as a hate crime offense that were originally referred to us for a different charge. Attorneys always make the charging decision, not law enforcement," Johnson said.
She noted how hateful words alone are generally not enough to prove motive, and will look into the relationship between both parties, if it was an isolated incident or a pattern of behavior, and greater context of the incident, among other things.
Helbert, an Illinois native, has a rap sheet spanning decades that landed him three years in prison. Charges include domestic battery, aggravated battery and great bodily harm, burglary, harboring a runaway, and aggravated kidnapping.
In December 2024, Childers filed a civil protection order against Helbert, which a King County Superior Court judge authorized for one year, beginning on January 8, 2025. (Childers is a resident of Seattle.)
A court date has yet to be set.
Evidence and other information related to the case, provided by Matthew Goldman, can be found at https://app.box.com/s/75pl9r0u1r4hingn5wfz7gc35d7swc9x
Visit Alex Childers' GoFundMe at https://gofund.me/2533a47c
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