In The News

MDJ:

U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville, has asked for a formal investigation after a man was allegedly turned away from the West Cobb Veterans Affairs Clinic when he refused to wear a face covering.

Robby Entrekin, a veteran, was denied care at the Dallas Highway facility after he said he couldn't wear a mask due to a medical condition, according to a letter from Loudermilk to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough.

The VA's website says that "everyone must wear a mask" inside the facility.

Entrekin then began recording the encounter, and was told by VA employees he couldn't record inside the building.

Fellow U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, seized on the incident on social media (Greene herself has been fined tens of thousands of dollars for refusing to wear a mask in Congress).

"This veteran was not just poorly treated by VA employees, he was ASSAULTED for exercising his First Amendment right to record in a public space," Greene wrote on Twitter. "This veteran is also a taxpayer, and no government employee should EVER treat a veteran this way."

A video shared by Greene appears to be a recording made by Entrekin. In it, he says, "What you're telling me, ma'am, is you're not going to see me because I have PTSD, I have panic attacks?"

Multiple employees tell Entrekin he cannot record inside the facility, and another reminds him the building requires visitors to wear masks. A man who appears to be a VA employee can later be seen pushing the phone away as Entrekin records him. Employees indicate they will call the police, but a Cobb police spokesperson said the department had no record of an incident. READ MORE