Rep. Filner's Aggressive History

I mentioned here about the other Congressional misbehavior which should be at least as much of a concern as Senator Craig's actions. As much as I don't approve of soliciting for sex in public restrooms, assault and battery is clearly the more serious problem--and yet Rep. Filner (D-CA) is getting a pass on this from the national media--probably because he's a Democrat, and violence by a Democrat doesn't make him a hypocrite.

It turns out that Filner's problem with pushing people isn't new. From the August 22, 2007 San Diego Union-Tribune:

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. Filner eventually was allowed to visit with the Pakistani detainee. The congressman apologized to the immigration officers on his way out of the facility, the report said.