Prosecutors charge Auburn man with assault and malicious harassment

King County prosecutors have filed one count of second-degree assault and one count of malicious harassment under Washington's hate crime statute against a 24-year-old Auburn man who allegedly threatened to cut a woman and her baby with a knife at the Seattle Indian Health Board July 1.

Eric Lee Garner, 24, will be arraigned July 21 in Courtroom 1201 of the downtown Seattle courthouse, at which time he will enter a plea.

According to Seattle Police Detective David Duty, Garner approached the woman at the Indian Health Board and began haranging her about the way she was dressed, saying things like "You Muslim people scare people when you wear things like that (head scarf)," and "when I see a black woman, I want to throw up!" Despite her efforts to calm him, police say, he began escalating, repeatedly calling her a "Muslim bitch."

The woman told police she tried to reason with Garner, saying that her clothing did not make her a bad person.

According to police, she tried to move away from Garner because she was holding her six-month-old baby and was frightened. Police say Garner then pulled out a large knife in a sheath, waved it in front of her face and said, "When I see a Muslim woman, I want to put a knife in her vagina!" and "I'm going to cut you and your baby with this knife!"

According to police statements, Garner began to pull the knife out of the sheath, but an alert employee snatched it away. Police say Garner then lunged over the counter, grabbed the knife from the employee and fled.

Police caught Garner the next day with the knife on Capitol Hill. He allegedly admitted to the incident, claiming that he was a white supremacist and was just doing his part to defend America. He also claimed to have a fully automatic AK-47 that he had purchased after Sept. 11, 2001.

Garner's bail is set at $100,000. If convicted he faces 33-43 months in prison based on the current charges and prior felony convictions including felony harassment, harassment, trafficking, theft, indecent exposure, assault and carrying a dangerous weapon.