August 21, 2007
Rep. Filner Disputes Airline Employee's Assault Charges
Some details are now available regarding the alleged scuffle involving Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.), who represents San Diego, at Dulles Airport on Sunday night. It seems that Filner got a little frustrated while trying to find his bag in a United Airlines baggage claim office, and according to a Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police statement, then "attempted to enter an area authorized for airline employees only," and "pushed aside the employee's outstretched arm and refused to leave the area when asked by an airline employee."
Airport police were called to the scene, and Filner was briefly detained and then released after being interviewed at the airport. The female airline employee assisted Loudoun County authorities in filing charges of assault and battery against the Congressman.
Filner's office issued a brief statement indicating the Congressman would fight the charges, and that believing them means you hate America: "Congressman Bob Filner is on his way to Iraq, visiting our troops, and will have a full statement when he returns. Suffice it to say now, that the story that has appeared in the press is factually incorrect -- and the charges are ridiculous," the statement says.
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he's right! everyone should recognize and respect all 435 members of the House of Representatives! They are like C-Span celebrities.
Interesting to note that the Congressman serves on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and sits on the Subcommittees on Aviation, Highway and Transit, and Water Resources and Environment.
If it is true that he simply "pushed aside the employee's outstretched arm and refused to leave the area when asked by an airline employee." charges of "assault and battery" seem to be a bit overzealous.
Looks like we've found the bastard child of Hugo Weaving and the hyperNHGH.
ShawninDC, and you wonder why there's 2 million people in jail in the US?
Anyone with Cruella de Ville eyebrows like that is definitely not to be trifled with.
Ten bucks says the chick that filed the charges gets mysteriously "reassigned."
being on the TNI subcommittee on aviation, highway, and transit....you'd think the airline would tell this employee to shut up pretty quick. who knows though. not at all impressed with the people United hires, so the chances she's looking for a quick buck are pretty high.
Not a huge Filner fan, but i'm tempted to side with him on this one from what i've heard so far.
should've done a spin move instead. he would have avoided the assault charges and it would look cooler.
Guest 7, there is no reason why a congressman should have access to any restricted area he wants. He's not a police officer, homeland security official or, TSA official. As far as he's concerned to aiport staff, he is a civillian despite his Congressional status. People are restricted from certain parts of the airports for their own safety as well as the safety of others. Congressman Filner's attitude and disregard for the rules is an obvious example of "Fuck you, laws for all of you 'regular' people don't apply to me."
This person was merely doing their job. Whether or not they have an actual case remains to be seen, but Congressman Filner was obviously in the wrong.
I like how the assumption is that everyone should know who he is.
I'm in agreement with demonfafa on this, Filner is just a bureaucrat. An evil-looking one at that. Is that a villain leer or what?
Thirded demonfafa!
"spin move" - hahaha
seeing as how Congress funds the airports, keeps the airlines afloat, and regulates safety... it's fair to say they pretty much have access to anywhere they want. while i don't like the idea of them abusing this power while on non-official business, the thought that members of congress should not have access to things is very Dick Cheney of you. thanks though, guest 9.
-guest 7.
I think we should all operate under the assumption that the airline employee had no idea who this guy was. I mean, I had no idea who this guy was until I read this article. I'm pretty sure the airline employee acted the way she should have, give that it's how she would act if some John Doe passenger did the same thing.
As for this being "assault" and "battery," it definitely is.
This guy may have been acting like an asshole, but the idea that "pushing someone's arm out of the way" merits an assault charge is absolutely ridiculous. And how do we know that this person was "merely doing their job"? Maybe she was the one acting like a jerk ... in my experience airlines seem to put their least competent, least helpful staff in those baggage area counter jobs.
This incident may be ridiculous, but it's even more ridiculous that it resulted in criminal charges and a national news story. Everyone here who has never lost their temper with a customer service employee, or with a customer for that matter, can continue with the throwing of stones.
While his actions were improper, I sympathize with Rep. Filner as I have been in a similar situation.
Despite its outward appearances - with fancy bar codes and luggage tags - it turns out that airline baggage handling is in reality a 17th century system. I had a bag missing on a flight, and inquired at the baggage desk as to its location. The CSR told me he did not know. I asked why they give you a bar code sticker when you check in your luggage. He told me he did not know and that the bar code did not mean anything. He could not tell me where the bag was -- if it had been left at the origin, put on the wrong plane, or if it was on a later flight (which was the case, but we had to wait at the airport for 2 hours to find out).
Politburo - the baggage transfer system airlines use is actually rather sophisticated, from multiple barcode scanners, GPS devices on the baggage carts, RFID chips in the baggage tags to track their movements, and many industrial engineers working to make sure the systems operate with as few lost bags as possible. The problem lies in the customer face to the system, which is usually underpaid, ornery customer service associates working long hours behind a counter where they deal with, exclusively, frustrated passengers who have lost their bags.
I used to work for Delta Air Lines as an Industrial Engineer and believe it or not it's not the simplest thing in the world to make sure 95% or more of bags make it from point A to point B without any inconvenience to the passenger.
As for assault - people you should just wiki it. If you put your arm up to prevent someone from going somewhere they aren't supposed to, and they strike your arm, it's assault. And battery. It doesn't matter who was being an asshole. If she pushed him after he hit her arm, that'd be assault and battery too.
I never said it was a simple task.. but I don't accept the scapegoating of the CSRs. Yes, they obviously aren't the best people in the world.. but I can go to UPS, USPS or FedEx website and any idiot can track a package. I don't understand why the same can't be done for airline baggage (obviously on an intranet, not the web), unless you are implying that such a system is in place and the CSR was just being a douche by telling me he couldn't track the bag.
As for assault/battery - yes just touching someone can technically be a crime. But bringing charges over it is stupid. It's like a speeding ticket for going 1 mph over the limit.
Gotta love the gratuitous 'the Congressman is on his way to Iraq' BS. Sheesh.
Didn't that crazy-eyed Georgia congresswoman get pilloried for basically the same thing when she shoved a Capitol Police officer?
Why are folks letting Filner off the hook here...just because we all despise baggage claims agents?
@21: I suspect two reasons.. one as you mention, we all hate baggage people. Similarly, a CSR isn't a police officer.. and the McKinney incident involved an actual blow, rather than "pushing aside an outstretched arm".
I was no fan of Cynthia McKinney, but I thought literally making a federal case out of her argument with the Capitol Police officer was ridiculous too. Same thing when Fenty's aide had Dorothy Brizill arrested for assault for allegedly grabbing at her ID to try to read her name.
Politiburo - what I was suggesting is that the system is in place and the CSR was just being difficult. Delta lost my bag this weekend, which I discovered when I arrived to West Palm Beach. Went to the counter, gave them the bag tag, they scanned it and told me exactly where my bag got delayed and when it would arrive.
Who was being difficult?
With all due respect, TY, I read a report wherein the CSR was with a customer, and when the congressman interrupted and demanded to know where his bag was the CSR asked him to wait. It was at that point the congressman tried to gain entry to the authorized area and the CSR stopped him.
Geez that picture of him is like 20 years old, He is probably 60.
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 area airports at your own risk!