Man who stalked and threatened Rep. Jayapal to lose guns for 8 years

The man who threatened Rep. Pramila Jayapal outside her West Seattle home last summer has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor stalking charge, as first reported by the West Seattle Blog.

Brett Forsell, 49, was sentenced this week to 364 days in jail, which he has served through a combination of jail time and electronic home monitoring. Forsell has been ordered to stay away from Jayapal, undergo drug and alcohol treatment. He cannot own a gun for eight years.

According to charging documents, Forsell told police he showed up to “protest” at Jayapal’s house three to seven times last summer, in 2022.

On July 9, 2022, late at night, Forsell drove a black SUV with gold-spoked wheels to Jayapal’s home with his Glock .40 pistol, a live round in the chamber.

Forsell, who is white, yelled at Jayapal to go back to India. He also made other vulgar and sexist comments.

“He drove his vehicle in a loud and aggressive manner with witnesses stating that he reached speeds of 40 mph in the quiet residential neighborhood,” records say.

“Even his mother described him as belligerent on the night of his arrest.”

The charging document continues, “When Jayapal’s husband opened the door, “the male seemed surprised, stepped back and hurriedly got back into a vehicle that was in the roadway, driven by another unknown male.”

But Forsell continued to fixating on Jayapal after his arrest, according to the charging documents.

“He is focused on getting his Glock. .40 caliber semiautomatic handgun back as quickly as possible and … also plans to obtain an AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle. He also stated that continue his pattern of returning to Representative Jayapal’s house until in his words, “She goes back to India.”

The next hearing related to this case is in July regarding firearms surrender.