WASHINGTON – Rep. Bob Filner's alleged altercation with an airline employee in Virginia on Sunday, which led to an assault-and-battery charge against the San Diego Democrat, wasn't his first such run-in, according to a 2003 Justice Department incident report.
The report alleges that Filner went to an immigration detention facility in El Centro at 6 p.m. on Feb. 22, 2003, and demanded to see a detainee. After officers told him he could not enter the facility, he slipped past them into a secure area and refused to leave when ordered to do so. He then tried unsuccessfully to push his way past detention officers to get farther inside the facility, according to the report.
Filner became argumentative and the detention officers called El Centro police. The police came to the facility, but no charges were filed, according to the report.
Look who Filner considers to be "his constituents":The author of the two-page report, supervisor Juan J. Ramirez, wrote that he had been summoned by other officers to the facility's foyer because Filner was there with the wife of a detainee and two reporters. The group wanted to see the detainee. Ramirez told Filner he would have to wait while they obtained permission for him to visit the detainee, adding that they were seeking it in an “expedited” manner.
“Congressman Filner did not accept my response and told me he had the right to see anybody he pleased,” Ramirez wrote. “He asked me when was the last time I read the Constitution and then told me if I did not let him see his constituent, he would have me arrested.”
Get that? Illegal aliens sitting in detention facilities are Filner's constituents. Of course that kind of makes sense considering his district:
But can this story get better? It can:
The report went on to say that later Filner asked a detention officer, “Are you going to stop me, big man?” and to another, he asked, “Are you going to shoot me, are you going to arrest me?”
A short time later, Ramirez wrote, “I saw Congressman Filner force his way into control area.” Ramirez and seven other officers tried to persuade Filner to return to the foyer.
“I am a congressman and can do whatever I want,” Ramirez quoted Filner as saying.
Hmm. Remember, there were two reporters who accompanied Filner on this excursion to the detention facility. Why didn't this make the papers earlier?
Oh yeah. That's right. Filner is a Democrat...so this really wasn't a story.
Update: Newsbusters is covering this...
More on Big Bad Bob here...
3 comments:
A Congressman claiming to an official of the US government that a foreign national is his constituent?
To be fair to the good Representative, the gentleman under detention probably did vote for him...
This is just like when the police beat up a girl at Reagan National Airport in DC. They assaulted this girl and gave her a serious brain injury and made her entire body black and blue.
Then they arrested HER and charged her with a made up crime. You can be beat up by police and then have them charge you with a slew of imaginary crimes to cover up the beating, even if you are a law abiding citizen.
I seriously doubt Congressman Filner, who has devoted his entire career to public service and was going to visit our troops in Iraq, assaulted anyone. Fly through Washington DC airports at your own risk!
What the heck with all of these "anonymous" comments?
Leave a name, people! Gee...just make up something.
Anonymous #2...I'll give you some leeway because I am just presuming you were smoking crack last night.
Did you bother reading any of this post? The incident at Dulles was not the first time Filner had shown aggressive behavior tied to his belief that since he is in congress, Filner can "do anything I want."
And he didn't really interact with police at Dulles. He (allegedly) assaulted a United Airlines employee before he fled to Iraq.
Oh yeah...about that Iraq trip. Do you really think he is going in "support" of our troops? Let's see what he says when he returns.
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