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DETAILS EMERGE ON REP. BOB FILNER'S AIRPORT
ALTERCATION -- House Vets' Chair accused of
barging
past other customers, screaming at employees
and
repeatedly pushing a female baggage worker.
Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), House Vets' Chair
For more about House Vets' Chair Rep. Bob
Filner (D-CA), including the charges that have been filed against him, use the VA Watchdog search
engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/ses
search.php?q=filner&op=and
Story here...
http://www.guardian.
co.uk/worldlatest/story/0
,,-6902262,00.html
Story below:
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Details Emerge in Filner Altercation
By ERICA WERNER
Associated Press Writer
LEESBURG, Va. (AP) - Rep. Bob Filner stormed into a United Airlines
baggage office at Dulles International Airport, barged past other
customers, screamed at employees and repeatedly pushed a female baggage
worker, according to a criminal complaint.
``You can't stop me!'' the California Democrat yelled.
``The police can,'' replied the baggage worker, Joanne Kay Kunkel.
Filner backed off only when he heard another employee on the phone with
airport police, says the complaint, which offers more details on an Aug.
19 incident that resulted in misdemeanor assault and battery charges
against Filner.
Filner was served Monday with a summons for an Oct. 2 court hearing on
the incident. The complaint was subsequently filed in Loudoun County,
Va., General District Court and released Thursday to The Associated
Press.
It is based on a sworn statement from Kunkel, whose name had not
previously been released, and was signed by a Loudoun County magistrate
who found probable cause for charging Filner.
``Mr. Robert Filner came storming into our baggage office demanding help
with his delayed baggage. He barged in front of a line, interrupting our
business with other passengers. He is screaming,'' the complaint begins.
It goes on to describe Filner trying to shove his way into an
employee-only office as Kunkel tells him to stop and tries to block him
by stretching out her arms. That's when Filner tells Kunkel she can't
stop him, and she tells him that the police can.
``At this point I am yelling for co-workers to call the police,'' the
complaint continues. ``He gets past me into the back office yelling at
other agents. He again pushes me out of the way near the doorway. After
hearing a co-worker on the phone with the (Metropolitan Washington
Airports Authority) dispatcher Mr. Filner leaves the office,'' the
complaint concludes.
Filner has said he was tired when the incident happened, and he's
described it as a misunderstanding and called the charges
``ridiculous.'' But he has declined to be interviewed and has not
provided details of what happened.
Filner's spokeswoman Amy Pond did not immediately respond to a phone
call for comment Thursday.
Filner, an eight-term incumbent who chairs the Veterans Affairs
Committee, has displayed flashes of temper in the past.
About a year ago, he hurled obscenities at two Veterans Affairs
officials after a briefing about the burglary of a laptop with military
personnel information. The VA officials termed the briefing a
``publicity stunt,'' which angered Filner.
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Larry Scott --
