In Seattle, Mayor Mike McGinn apologized Wednesday hours after an 84-year-old retired Seattle school teacher named Dorli Rainey was pepper-sprayed in the face during a protest. Photographs of the woman moments after she was pepper-sprayed went viral. One photograph shows the chemical irritant and liquid used to treat it dripping from her chin.
Dorli was born in Austria, moved to the United States in 1956, after working as a technical translator in the U.S. Army in Europe. She briefly campaigned to run for mayor in Seattle in 2009.
Dorli Rainey talking:
“Well, first of all, it’s very painful. And when they say there are no after effects, I still have a pain in my lungs, and my voice is kind of raspy. I don’t know how long that will last. But the thing really is not about me getting pepper-sprayed. It is a much bigger issue than that, and I would like everybody to keep that in mind, that while we’re getting pepper-sprayed, other issues are not being heard. And that’s my problem. I feel issues become a major focus to the detriment of the real issues that cause this whole problem.”