Man barred from Seattle schools after threatening officials

A King County Superior Court judge this morning approved a protection order barring Omari Tahir-Garrett from coming near Seattle schools Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson and School Board President Cheryl Chow, who say they have been threatened by Tahir-Garrett.

Goodloe-Johnson and Chow allege that Tahir-Garrett has disrupted School Board meetings with threats, obscenities, racially charged remarks and, at one point, pushed a school administrator to the floor. Chow and Goodloe-Johnson say they fear for their safety.

At one meeting, Tahir-Garrett allegedly warned Chow, an Asian American, that the Wah Mee Massacre could happen again, a reference to the 1983 fatal shooting of 13 people at a Chinatown International District gambling club.

"I understood this to be a threat to my life, as well as to the lives of my fellow directors," Chow said in papers filed in Superior Court.

Tahir-Garrett, who went to prison for striking then-Mayor Paul Schell with a bullhorn in 2001, could not be reached for comment. He also did not appear in court this morning when a temporary protection was extended for a year. The protection order bars Tahir-Garrett from coming within 500 feet of any Seattle Public School building, within 500 feet of Goodloe-Johnson or Chow, and within 1,000 yards of either woman's home or workplace.