Posted on 08/20/2007 4:01:09 PM PDT by John Jorsett
Add Rep. Bob Filner to the list of lawmakers who have run afoul of the law in very public settings.
Filner (D-Calif.), the chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, has been charged with assault and battery of a United Airlines employee after he allegedly forced his way into an unauthorized area of baggage claim at Dulles Airport and pushed an employee out of the way in an attempt to retrieve his bags, according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
Filner is the latest member of Congress to have a run-in with law enforcement. In July, Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) had a loud confrontation with Capitol Police officers at a Capitol doorway, and he later apologized for the incident. In a now infamous incident, former Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.), slammed her cell phone against the chest of a Capitol Police officer who asked her for identification because she was not wearing her special member of Congress pin. Also last year, Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) was arrested for driving under the influence when he rammed his car into a steel barrier outside the Capitol. He later underwent rehabilitation for alcohol and apologized to the Capitol Police.
It remains to be seen how Filner will handle the potentially embarrassing incident. The charges and the details of what happened at Dulles Airport on Sunday night are now part of the public record at a magistrate's office in Loudoun County, Va., near Dulles Airport.
Responding Monday, Filner’s spokeswoman, Amy Pond, said the congressman was “on his way to Iraq, visiting our troops, and will have a full statement when he returns.’’
“Suffice it to say now,’’ she added, “that the story that has appeared in the press is factually incorrect-and the charges are ridiculous.”
Here's the full statement from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority:
Around 6 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 19, Airports Authority police were called to the United Airlines bag claim office at Dulles for a report of an incident with a passenger regarding his baggage. The individual allegedly attempted to enter an area authorized for airline employees only, pushed aside the employee’s outstretched arm and refused to leave the area when asked by an airline employee. When MWAA officers arrived a few minutes later, the man had left the office and was waiting in the area of a bag carousel. Officers interviewed him and witnesses and released him. Before the individual left the airport, officers advised him that the airline employee would be pursuing charges. The airline employee appeared before a Loudoun County magistrate later that evening and a summons was obtained charging Robert Filner (DOB 9/4/1942) with assault and battery, a Class 1 misdemeanor. Mr. Filner is scheduled to appear in Loudoun County General District Court on Oct. 2.
Hat tip to reporters Kris Van Cleave and Jay Korff of WJLA-TV, which, like Politico, is part of Allbritton Communications Co., for breaking the story.
Democrats Gone Wild, The Movie-coming to a theater near you!
Can I buy the DVD at Walmart?
Too bad it wasn’t a Capital Police Officer....he’d be sure to walk...
Filner is a dim, but not a black female dim, so he will at least feel some heat.
“democrats gone wild”
nah. they’re just practicing for when they become commissars, holders of absolute power, and general totalitarian scu&bags who hold themselves above the law.
I’m betting that he used the good ole “Do you know who I am?!?!”
He’s a real liberal Clymer. Hope this proves damaging for him and amusing to us.
If the story is “factually incorrect,” why didn’t the Filner spokesbeing tell us what the facts really are?
-PJ
I speculate that this incident may be on tape (or rather DVD), given the not-infrequent dustups that occur at Luggage Service counters.
Anyone know whether airports/ airlines routinely put security cameras on such locations, not only to cover outbursts but also to nab folks who grab bags not belonging to them?
ANOTHER Democrat law maker - who has the Leona Helmsley complex - believing laws are only for the little people to obey...
They should have handcuffed the bastard and led him away...to spend at least the evening in some filthy jail...
All animals are equal? Bullsquat.
NO ONE got suspicious?
Regarding the McKinney incident, I ran into a Capitol Police officer while on vacation this last June. He was wearing a t-shirt at the beach, that IDd him, so I started chatting with him.
Off the record, he really thought McKinney should have been prosecuted, and believed that he is very representative of rank and file feelings on that.
He was glad to hear of the FReep of her I helped organize, and was spokesmen to the media for, back in 2002.
and why was your bag so damned important?
Sounds like a massive scandal! Every Democrat in Congress is tainted! They should lose their majority over this attack!!
OK I am being absurd, but isn’t that how the media overreacted over the Foley issue and a few other Republicans getting in trouble last year? You would think the bad actions of a few meant every Republican in congress was a sleaze and a crook. Sadly even many GOP voters seemed to want to take it out on their representative by staying home or voting Demo this time because someone in a completely separate district was involved in misbehavior. Made no sense to me.
Because they haven't decided what their facts are going to be yet......
Filner must not like to freeze his money....
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