The mayor of Granite Falls, Wash., has been released from jail after police arrested him at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, alleging he threatened an adult niece.

Airport spokesman Perry Cooper says Haroon Saleem was arrested Monday night after port police responded to a dispute that involved shouting and threats. The Everett Daily Herald says Saleem was arrested for investigation of domestic violence harassment.

Court papers say Saleem was at the airport to pick up his 13-year-old daughter who had been on vacation in California, where she had quarreled with relatives. The newspaper says the dispute lingered and the daughter sat apart from her relatives on the flight to Seattle.

The mayor's wife tells KOMO-TV her husband was just acting as a protective father in a long-standing family dispute.

King County prosecutor's spokesman Dan Donohoe says a judge released the mayor Tuesday on personal recognizance pending a charging decision.