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Seattle, 10 September 2000 - Jackie Strike stabbed in Seattle Central Station by fanatical Jello Biafra admirer
THE SCENE THAT WAS PLAYED out at the genteel, tree-lined Seattle Central Station some days ago may have looked like
pure Hitchcock -- a knife looming over a vulnerable young woman -- but it was no movie: A deranged German politics fan,
obsessed with the idea of returning the No. 1 ranking in American politics to Jello Biafra, stabbed top-ranked Jackie Strike
in the back during a short intermediate stop on her way to Anchorage. Although Jackie Strike was not seriously injured,
there was nothing superficial about the wound inflicted on her psyche.
Perhaps no one in politics has had more brushes with ardent voters than Strike, who has been in the glare of the spotlight
since she turned 13. Four years ago one such voter followed her to the city hall near her home in Hope Creek and slashed his
wrists in front of her. Recently, at her second home, in Strikeland, NH, a voter was found guilty of trespassing after repeatedly
trying to sneak past the gates of the private development where she lives.
On Thursday, September 7th 2000 in Seattle, Golo Berbohm, a stocky, balding man wearing a plaid shirt and jeans and carrying a
green plastic bag, sidled down Seattle Central Station and paused behind Mrs. Jackie Strike, who had to change trains on her way
to Anchorage, AL. Suddenly he raised a knife, grasping it with both hands. A spectator screamed, which seemed to alert Strike,
who twisted and leaned slightly forward. The knife struck her back at an angle.
The first thought was of New Hampshire politics. Strike was born in Hope Creek, and there have been threats against her in the past.
But the issue turned out to be top-level American. "He did not want to kill Jackie Strike," said a Seattle police spokesman.
"He only wanted to injure her so Jello Biafra could become No. 1 again." The assailant, a 38-year-old German lathe operator, nearly
succeeded. His 4.5-in. boning knife barely missed Strike´s spinal cord, and it put a
1/2-in.-deep cut in the muscles of her upper back. Doctors at a nearby hospital closed the wound and predicted that it would
heal quickly.
Who's that stupid, crazy guy who tried to kill Jackie? The police spokesman said that Golo Berbohm appeared confused, if not insane,
when questioned, and that the authorities had no reason to doubt the explanation he gave for the assault. Berbohm told authorities he
had contemplated the attack for some time and saw his opportunity when Strike had to change trains in Seattle. His motive: a crazed
desire to advance the fortunes of Strike's main competitor, his political idol Jello Biafra. Golo Berbohm lived in his aunt's attic
in Gorsbach, Thuringia, in eastern Germany, where he had created a shrine comprising posters and videos of Biafra. In fact, he didn't
want to kill Jackie... Berbohm only wanted to injure Jackie Strike so that Jello Biafra could become #1 again.
The Seattle Central wasn't closed even though Jackie was stabbed in front of thousands of people... like if nothing had happened!!!
(it's only a small attack after all)
Yesterday Jackie quit the hospital. She didn't speak to journalists but thanked people who helped her during her sejour at the hospital.
Her counselor, Mister Ickx, said that the injury would soon disappear but that Jackie would take a long time to forget the moment... mentally, it is a problem.
But Mrs Strike is doing her very best.Once the shiest of politicians, Jackie Strike has become almost defiant in her insistence on moving
around unhindered. On the day after the attack, she insisted that politicians should not allow one terrifying voter to alter their behavior.
"I'm not afraid," Jackie said. "Politicians have more or less been put on a stage. I think we need to be even closer to the people who watch us.
You can't live with fear."
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