Man calls VA fine threat over photo 'intimidation'
The Associated Press | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 years, 8 months AGO
BILLINGS (AP) — A Billings man who transports disabled veterans says he was threatened with a $50 fine after appearing in a photograph alongside a newspaper article critical of a new Veterans Administration clinic.
Saunders was in an Aug. 15 Billings Gazette photo with an article about problems with the opening of the $6.3 million Billings clinic.
Ed Saunders says a VA police officer told him unauthorized photos on VA property are not allowed. Saunders says officer Steve McCullom told him the rule was a way to check for terrorism activity.
VA spokesman Randy Martin said the issue is patient privacy. Federal regulations allow news photographs to be taken at VA entrances, lobbies or other designated places.
Saunders says he has not paid the fine and he believes the threat was to intimidate him.
MORE IMPORTED STORIES
Feds say 'disabled' man had affinity for his Harley
Hungry Horse News | Updated 6 years, 4 months ago
ARTICLES BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Latest: US helped family escape Afghanistan overland
WASHINGTON — The United States is confirming for the first time that it has helped a U.S. citizen and family members to escape Afghanistan through an overland route to a neighboring country.
The Latest: US helped family escape Afghanistan overland
WASHINGTON — The United States is confirming for the first time that it has helped a U.S. citizen and family members to escape Afghanistan through an overland route to a neighboring country.
The Latest: Top Republican says Taliban holding Americans
WASHINGTON — The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee says some Americans who have been trying to get out of Afghanistan since the U.S. military left are sitting in airplanes at an airport ready to leave but the Taliban are not letting them take off.