17-month sentence for man who threatened Muslim woman, child

An Auburn man was sentenced to a maximum 17 months in prison for malicious harassment and second-degree assault after threatening a Muslim woman and her 6-month-old child with a knife at the Seattle Indian Health Board in July 2009.

Eric Lee Garner made anti-Muslim remarks and threatened to cut the woman and her baby during the incident, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

King County Superior Court Judge Laura Inveen imposed the sentence.

Garner had pleaded guilty to the charges in March. He faced a sentence range of from 13 to 17 months in prison.

According to police and court documents, Garner walked up to the woman on July 1 while she was at the Seattle Indian Health Board, pointed at her head scarf and said, "You Muslim people scare people when you wear things like that!" He followed up with other derogatory remarks, according to court charging papers.

The woman, who was holding her 6-month-old son, tried to reason with Garner by telling him that "her clothing does not make her a bad person," court documents said. When the insults didn't stop, prosecutors said, the woman backed away from Garner and tried to shield her son from him.

Garner then cursed at the woman, got in her face and pulled out a large sheathed knife, court papers said. Garner told the woman he was going to "cut" her and her baby with the knife, charging documents said.

A health-board employee then grabbed the knife, prosecutors said. Garner jumped over the counter, retrieved the knife and ran out.

He was arrested the following day.

Mike Carter: 206-464-3706 or mcarter@seattletimes.com