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Military K-9 handler Eric Bonner's post about a brush with Hillary Clinton went viral on Facebook.

Published Aug. 1, 2016

On 28 July 2016, Facebook user Eric Bonner shared the following anecdote reporting what he said was an unpleasant brush he experienced with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton while he was serving as a military K9 handler:

I'm not Voting for Clinton.

It has nothing to do with her views. It really doesn't even matter about all the laws she broke.

It's because She actually talked to me once. Almost a sentence. But first, some background.

Being a K9 handler in the Military I got to do a few details involving Distinguished Visitors. Mostly Generals, DOD Officials, and Secretaries of Defense. I was lucky enough to pull two awesome details. George W Bush, and Obama.

GW looked at me, said "Man, who'd you piss off" high fived me, and continued on. I was climbing down from a catwalk I stood on for 4 hours with nothing but Dust and a radio to keep me company. The radio died early on. It was pretty sweet.

Obama, as he was walking out to his plane in Turkey, said "What the hell kind of dog is that?!" In reference to Suli.

One of my Last details was for Hillary when she was Secretary of State. She was in Turkey for whatever reason. I helped with sweeps of her DV Quarters and staff vehicles. Her words to me? "Get that Fucking dog away from me." Then she turns to her Security Detail and berates them up and down about why that animal was in her quarters. For the next 20 minutes while I sit there waiting to be released she lays into her detail, slamming the door in their faces when she's done. The Detail lead walks over apologizes and releases me. I apologize to him for getting him in trouble. His words "Happens every day, Brother"

Hillary doesn't care about anyone but Hillary.

The anecdote wasn't Bonner's only commentary on the subject. Subsequently, he stated that his account was temporarily suspended after the post went viral until he could provide identification to Facebook:

Strange Morning......

I went to bed last night thinking things calmed down. I was at 5600ish shares when my head hit the pillow. I woke up at 6 am with about 8200 shares, which was far less a pace considering I slept 6 hours. Just looked, 11K Shares. More on that in a few.....

My Facebook message inbox was full of messages of praise and support. Regular people thanking me for my service. People offering a lot of beer, and a few good meals. There were also fellow handlers past and present telling similar stories to mine. I did receive one negative message calling me a liar and asking why I'd make a story like that up. To those strangers that offered up messages of support I want you to know I really appreciate it.

I jumped in the shower a short time later. When I got out I had a message from a good friend asking what happened to my account. He couldn't Facebook Message me or see anything I had posted.... EVER. I opened Facebook to find my account had been suspended. Why? My name.

About a year ago, out of an abundance of caution due to what I did for a living, I changed how my name was displayed on Facebook. While no specific threats were made, there were plenty of general threats that I had a hard time ignoring. I would be devastated if harm came to my family or friends because of my chosen profession.

Facebook suspended my account until my name could be Verified. The timing of it was interesting. They wanted me to provide government ID. Which ultimately I did not end up providing. End Result? As you can see my profile is back up and running. However, I feel like this won't be the end of this type of "Contact."

Finally, I'd like to speak to my motivations two nights ago. I posted that Hillary encounter while watching her speech at the DNC. I was typing as she spoke. I was simply telling a story I have told a hundred times. Never did I think I would reach this level of popularity. Let me reiterate from earlier posts.... I do not support any candidate for President. I can't envision any candidate doing the job at the level that the American people deserve. I'm still waiting for a Candidate to earn my vote. This regrettably may not happen in 2016.

TL;DR My post went kinda sorta viral, Facebook suspended my account because I had a funky name, I don't support a Presidential candidate.

Prior to that, Bonner clarified that he was not a fan of Donald Trump (describing him as a "bad choice" as well) and didn't believe either candidate had "earned" his vote. Bonner also stated he'd come under harassment from Clinton supporters for sharing his comments.

Although the truth of Eric Bonner's account can only be independently verified by Hillary Clinton herself (or her security detail from the time), an Air Force public affairs piece published on 31 August 2009 does document that Bonner and Suli were on duty in Turkey in 2009:

suli2

Staff Sgt. Eric Bonner, a 39th Security Forces Squadron military working dog handler, comforts Suli, his 9-year-old German shepherd partner, prior to Suli’s prophylactic gastropexy, also referred to as stomach tacking, to prevent gastric torsion, or twisting of the stomach Thursday, Aug. 27, 2009 at the Veterinary Clinic, Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. The surgery was completed after a recommendation by the Army, the service in charge of medical care for the military working dog program, for all dogs in the program to receive the surgery. Stomach twisting is caused by gastric dilatation and volvulus, commonly known as bloat, the second leading killer of dogs after cancer.

Likewise, the records of the Office of the Historian for the United States Department of State document that Secretary Clinton made a trip to Turkey to meet with that country's foreign minister on 7 March 2009:

turkey

Kim LaCapria is a former writer for Snopes.