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Kootenai County Sheriff, file
Joe Hundley was charged with assault after allegedly hitting a 19-month-old boy who had started to cry aboard a Delta flight.
A man accused of uttering a racial slur and slapping another passenger's crying toddler during a flight has been fired in the wake of the alleged incident.
Joe Hundley, 60, from Hayden, Idaho, was charged with assault after he allegedly hit the 19-month-old boy who had started to cry during the airplane’s descent, NBC station KARE reported.
According to court documents, the child’s mother Jessica Bennett alleges Hundley leaned over and said, "Shut that [N-word] baby up!" before slapping the child. This caused him to bleed and cry even harder, his mother told KARE.
'Offensive and disturbing'
The Boise Weekly reported that Bennett's story was supported by another passenger who was aboard the Delta Air Lines flight from Minneapolis to Atlanta on Feb. 8. That could not be independently confirmed by NBC News.
Hundley is no longer working for Idaho-based aircraft component manufacturer, Unitech, its parent company AGC Aerospace and Defense said in a statement on its website Sunday:
“Reports of the recent behavior of one of our business unit executives while on personal travel are offensive and disturbing. We have taken this matter very seriously and worked diligently to examine it since learning of the matter on Friday afternoon. As of Sunday, the executive is no longer employed with the company.
“We wish to emphasize that the behavior that has been described is contradictory to our values, embarrassing and does not in any way reflect the patriotic character of the men and women of diverse backgrounds who work tirelessly in our business.”
In an interview with KARE, Bennett said Hundley appeared intoxicated, accusing him of becoming increasingly obnoxious during the flight.
"He reeked of alcohol," Bennett said. "He was belligerent and I was uncomfortable."
Hundley's attorney, Marcia Shein of Atlanta, has said that her client will plead not guilty to the charge.
Shein told Reuters that she has received hate mail over her defense of Hundley, but added that she believes her client has been misunderstood.
"He is not a racist," Shein said. "I'm going to make that real clear because that's what people are suggesting."
"There's background information people don't know about, and in time it will come out," she said.
The Spokesman-Review newspaper of Spokane, Wash., reported that Hundley had denied the allegations.
“I can only say it’s an absolute falsehood,” the Spokesman-Review quoted Hundley as saying.
Leave a Comment:
This guy so needed to have the crap kicked out of him drunk or not..
that's "crappo"
Really? Maybe its the other way around.
If that had been me and my child my fist would have found his most vulnerable spot and that would have taken care of him the rest of the flight.
This mother should have kept the kid at home OR drivien to her destination - I've been on many flights where kids were yelling their heads off and the 'parent' just let it happen. I would have gladly thrown the kids out the window! Take a kid where it can handle it - leave a kid OUT of a situation they can't! That is VERY closed quarters and many captive people to have to put with a screaming kid that no one can control! I blame that silly female, too. She probably thinks her mixed kid is 'cute'....
Ever been on a flight with a mother and a whining screaming kid? Throw them both off the plane.
i guess your kid rides on the top of the car
Her "mixed kid?" What the hell does that comment have to do with anything?
Nobody's making the case that kids aren't annoying on flights. He didn't slap the mother. Whether or not the kid or the mom should have been flying is a separate dialogue.
This chick wasn't controlling her child. Sounds to me like this guy was forced to do her job as a parent as she wouldn't.
Tag, if the child was such a terror, why was he the only one on board that felt the need to shut him/her up? Maybe the mother was taking the child to meet his father coming home from Afghanistan. Not saying that's where they were going, but the drunk didn't know either.
this guy should contact Idaho's Senator Crappo... two peas in a pod... busted!!!
Any witnesses? Her word against his?
The story said another passages was a witness to the incident. I am sure this coward would not have gotten fired if is was only his word against hers.
read the article, then comment.
Right. Screaming kid? Hmmm.
I have found that quieting a screaming or crying child is very easy if you follow my plan. First pull apart a high blood pressure capsule and sprinkle the powder in the childs mouth when they are screaming. In about 3 minutes max, the kids tongue will stick out of his head about 6 inches, and their eyes seem to roll around in their head in opposite directions. The main effect is a nice well behaved, quiet child.
Do you know how many felonies you committed in that inane posting?
Observing..... stupidity knows no bounds. Maybe somebody should hold him down and sprinkle battery acid or Drano on his tongue, to see what kind of faces he makes.
So this guy's lip is not bleeding, face not swollen, eye not black...must have been an understanding parent
On a side note to this unfortunate circumstance, does alcohol really need to be served on airplanes? Is that little luxury truly a necessity on any flight? I was on 10 hour flight to Hawai'i and they didn't serve me food, much less alcohol. Did I complain? No...I packed my own damn meal and went well enough without getting buzzed. It's surprising, almost any incident you hear about on a flight involving an unruly passenger often has the lingering residue of alcohol all over the story.
Truly a voice of reason. Nobody can have a drink because you don't want a drink and some people drink too much. Let freedom ring!
Just another ignorant right wing racist republican acting up .....
JFD, how do you know he was an ignorant right wing racist republican?
His actions and words lend to the ignorant racist part.
social media, for example this comment section, dictates the company's actions. based on the amount of public reaction and anger, a company will simply get rid of the problem per recommendations from the company lawyer. right or wrong that's the way things are - right now anyway. sorry for not capitalizing properly but my caps don't seem to work here. what's up with that. question mark won't work either.
The child was adopted. The race of the child should have no bearing on anything. This a$$ was making a moral judgement of the mother and child, of which he knew nothing. Children do have trouble when planes are taking off and landing due to the changes that make all of our ears hurt. There is not an excuse on the planet for the behavior of this "man"... and I am using that word because what I would prefer to call him is not fit for print. This supposed adult was subjected to the child for a short time. If I get arrested for just about anything, I am fired from my employer. There are clauses in just about every employment contract. Alcohol just accelerates natural behavior. The man is a dinosaur, and should be treated as such.
Hi Kat - I agree. Just with the negative publicity, companies have no tolerance of that type of behavior, especially from an executive and will let people go.
Any man there should have put him in the hospital. You do not touch other people's children.
If he was of color would he have been let go so quickly?
I usually slap the parent first....then if they don't control the child...slap the child.
Works EVERY time!!
Wow.
Let's take this from the top.
1. This guy was a drunk, child beating, racist.
2. He needed to be thrown from the plane and charged with assault.
3. And this is the point that relates to this part of the story. He was not fired for hitting the child, or being drunk, he was charged for his racial epitaph.
While I have no problem with his being fired for slapping a child, and his racism makes me cringe, it should not be an actual CRIME to think or say your feelings. To be thrown off a plane for saying racial things is fine. But to be fired for saying what you think on your own time is a slippery slope. I do not agree with the reason behind the firing. But I can bet you anything this company does not automatically fire people for beating their own children, or even slapping other peoples' in public..or even for being drunk in public for that matter.
Greg, unfortunately thinking or speaking ones feelings or opinions is becoming a crime...for now in the court of public opinion.
He BEAT A CHILD. Period.
Tao, I agree, but that was not the reason why he was fired. If he were fired because of hitting the child, I would be lauding the reason behind the decision.
"Passenger fired". Had to read that a couple of times for it to make sense.
I know. It sounds like they shot him out of an engine.
We need to ban alchohol at airports and in airplanes. Using liberal logic, if the guy had not had access to alcohol, he would not have slapped the child....
So you are Pro-racism and others beating your child?
A lot of you asked what would have happened if the man was black and the baby was white. I think you all really have a good idea, he most likely wouldn't have lived to be fired.
Apparently, he has a history of violence. According to thesmokinggun:
"According to Virginia state court records, Hundley was arrested in 2007
following a fight with his girlfriend. Initially charged with simple
assault, carrying a concealed weapon, and public intoxication, Hundley
subsequently pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor assault rap."
Even better, we need to now ban people with arrest records from drinking alcohol and flying in planes....
That just doesn't make any sense. You mean it's bad people that demonstrate themselves to be a problem that we need to address? Why not just ban everything? Much better for society that way. Everyone will conform that way.
Some might wonder why such a quick response well it's the companies minority investors who are yes of color. Joe like many executives think it's ok in America to be racist but treat their investors differently. But this action it the air waves and the company quickly let Joe go and will settle with the parents. Yes it is ok to call even the President the N word as many use the Freedom of Speech but when it comes to money and large minority investors that word is not allowed.
Pretty idiotic statement - don't have much respect for anyone of color, to you? OK to call the POTUS the N word . . . under which rock did you crawl out from?
Jackie, It doesn't matter if the investors were minorities or what. All it takes to lose a significant percentage of market value is for a company to appear to support an employee who commits an act like this one. The company did the only thing they could do.
hahaha
"he allegedly hit the 19-month-old boy who had started to cry during the airplane’s descent"
A message for Joe Hundley. The plane was landing and you couldn't handle a crying baby until the plane landed. You need to stop going out in public entirely. There will be a lot worse out there for you. I wish you would try to swing at my baby, I would end you without reservation.
Modern day disrespect seems to be rubbing off on the elderly.
Maybe somebody should of given this elderly man a good b*tch slap on his noggin.
I would say his employer must have something else on this man. The incident occurred on Friday and he was fired over the weekend. According to the company, he was traveling on personal time. Unless he made representation to the company brand, I would think that either he received a nice big severance package or he is going to sue the daylights out of them. It will be interesting to see where this case goes.
On the other hand, I would have been in jail because I would have beat his @ss for hitting my kid. You hit me, I might have turned the other cheek, you hit my infant/toddler son and I don't care if you're Mike Tyson, it's on. Hope the idiot spends some time in jail.
Aother cranky old white guy who's still upset that Mitt Romney lost the election. So he took his frustrations on that poor toddler.
You are a racist bigot!!!!
Pretty typical executive - old, white, bitter, self-important, racist and drunk.
And we wonder why the state of business and the economy are so bad. It's because of people just like this, tens of thousands of them, in executive positions across countless companies. And worst of all - they make the lion's share of income, and far too often have the ear of our elected officials.
This is a generation that simply cannot die off soon enough.
You are a racist bigot!!!! You want an entire generation to die off. A generation that did more for this country then your lazy stay at home and wit for my government check pathetic a$$...
No Something, I work for a living, raised my children, invest in the market, run my own private business, attend fund-raiser dinners for candidates I endorse, and volunteer 30 days every year at various Native American reservations. You don't know a thing about me you ignorant bore.
But you've certainly proved who the bigot really is here.
Grumpy old man!
disgusting grumpy old racist is more like it.