UPDATE: Police: Campaign Volunteer Made Up Attack Story
A Pittsburgh police commander told KDKA Investigator Marty Griffin that Ashley Todd confessed to making up the story & is facing charges.
...The commander added that Todd will face charges; but police have not commented on what those charges will be.
I hope the charges reflect the seriousness of Todd's accusations. She lied to police.
Remember, Todd disgraced herself. She's a very screwed up person.
It's an illogical leap, however, to connect her behavior with McCain-Palin supporters in general.
Remember that McCain-Palin supporters questioned the veracity of Todd's story from the beginning, too.
As I presumed, it didn't take long to get to the truth.
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Is Ashley Todd telling the truth?
(CNN) -- A Pennsylvania woman told police she was attacked at an ATM in Pittsburgh by a robber who became angry when he saw a John McCain bumper sticker on her car, a spokeswoman for the Pittsburgh Police Department said Thursday.
Public Information Officer Diane Richard said police cannot substantiate her story, however, and the investigation is ongoing.
Richard said the 20-year-old told investigators a man approached her Wednesday night at an ATM in the city's East End, put a blade to her neck and demanded money.
She said she gave him $60 and stepped away from him, Richard said.
But the woman said the man "became very angry" when he noticed her car had a bumper sticker supporting the GOP presidential nominee, according to Richard. The woman said he punched her in the back of the head, knocked her to the ground and "continued to punch and kick her while threatening her," the spokeswoman said.
Before he left, the woman said, he carved the letter "B" into her face with a knife, according to Richard. There was no indication what the "B" indicated.
The alleged assailant fled on foot, Richard said.
"We, the police, cannot substantiate this yet," she said. "This is what she told police."
The woman, who is not from Pittsburgh, refused medical attention, Richard said, although she told the investigating officer she would see a doctor Thursday. There was no update on her condition, she said.
Richard said the woman described her alleged attacker as a dark-skinned African-American, 6 feet 4 inches tall with a medium build and short dark hair, wearing dark clothing and shiny shoes.
Shouldn't at least some of the attack have been captured on the ATM's security camera?
It should be reasonably easy to verify whether Todd is telling the truth about being robbed.
There's talk on the Left that Todd may be the Republicans' Tawana Brawley. That, of course, is ridiculous.
The Tawana Brawley hoax was a circus that involved activists and celebrities. There were protests and marches. It took nearly a year to conclude that Brawley was lying. It was such a long, drawn-out mess.
That's not going to happen in this case.
The surveillance footage should provide answers as to Todd's truthfulness. After examining that, if there is still uncertainty, there won't be the sort of reaction that Tawana Brawley's story elicited.
If Todd's story is legitimate, then she's the victim of an absolutely horrific attack.
If Todd is lying or embellishing, then she should be held accountable for her actions, giving a false report to police. In addition, she'll have a lot of apologizing to do.
10 comments:
One way or another, this is a very sad story. Looking at the mark on the girl's face, it seems highly unlikely that it was inflicted by a street criminal during a struggle-hoodlums are rarely so careful, and they don't carry butter knives. I hope whatever the truth is it is defined quickly.
We Libertarians have been victims of Democrat thuggery for years. They've blocked our petitioners, stalked us, all over the country: Montana, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, most recently brutal incidents in Arizona.
So, I'm not at all surprised by this story. We've been screaming at our Republican friends that the Democrats/ACORN are complete thugs, for years. But they just pooh-poohed our assertions.
I feel sorry for the girl, but maybe this will finally wake Republicans up, that Democrats are completely violent Thugs, and will do anything to stop the supporters of liberty.
eric clearly cannot form an independant thought
Based solely on the photo in the CNN story, her claim doesn't pass the smell test.
The "B" is backward, as it was for Morton Downey Jr. when he wrote on his own face using the bathroom mirror.
It is also nearly perfectly formed. Every juncture of the letter meets the others too precisely. It's as uniform and symmetrical as one could hope to do themselves.
Were somebody carving into your face, even if they'd managed to hold your head absolutely still, your cheek and facial muscle twitching from your screams and moans would make that sort of perfection nearly impossible.
Now add in that it's the dark of night, the victim is likely squirming and fighting, and the episode becomes unlikely. If she did this herself, they should throw the book at her.
While I'm prepared to recant and apologize if I'm wrong, I would hope the regional apologists for West Bend's mini-Brawley will show the same willingness to support the full weight of the law being applied to THEIR exposed cause celeb as well...
-jjg
DailyScoff.com
Lame. Michelle Malkin even calls it a hoax.
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/10/23/why-that-mccain-volunteers-mutilation-story-smells-awfully-weird/
And, the Post Chronicle notes that she's being brought in for a polygraph, because the ATM footage discounts her story.
This is a hoax, and I do feel sorry for the girl because she obviously has some deep seeded emotional problems. I myself was the victim of an ATM robbery involving a firearm. The security cameras are fairly easy to cheat as they are 99% NOT streaming video, but individuals stills taken on a 3 to 6 second delay. people think all security cameras keep them protected when honestly they rarely become viable evidence. The girl's wounds are superficial, and obviously not inflicted during a struggle with a knife. The B is too perfect. Her black eye in the photograph has been enhanced with makeup ( obvious again ) and is not swollen or bloodshot, which is near impossible to achieve unless the result of small repetitive self inflicted blows to eventually produce bruising without massive damage. How wa she "lost" but able to leave quickly, go to a friends home, and return within 45 minutes?
Very sad that she felt the need to draw attention to herself this way, she'll lose her credibility for life.
From the perspective of a Pittsburgh local, this looks like more race-baiting from the GOP:
Read About It.
The minute I saw the backwards 'B' I knew it was a hoax. This girl either needs psychological help or a swift kick in the arse, or both. Why does the media waste time on this garbage?, oh wait, I know..The mass media form for us our image of the world and then tell us what to think about that image. I'm tired of the manipulation. I' thinking about cancelling my cable and just using the TV to watch DVD movies.
I live in Pittsburgh and this incident occurred one block from where I used to live. I use that ATM regularly. I can't say whether it occurred or not, but I can tell you that the victim has given contradictory statements to the police and according to her most recent statement, she passed out and didn't know what happened to her--this was after they suggested she take a polygraph.
It was reported here as a mugging gone wrong on a person who was in town to work for McCain. That has translated into the national media as "Obama supporters attacking McCain supporters."
Aside from the contradictory statements and the odd choice of carving a backward B (like looking in a mirror?) into a person's face--a few things I find fishy.
That intersection is extremely busy--there is an active Catholic Church on one corner, a popular restaurant/bar on another corner, an excellent Thai restaurant on the other corner and the bank. In both directions their are a number of busy coffee shops, restaurants, and grocery stores. There is a ton of foot traffic in the evening. The neighborhood is working class and heavily Italian, and Pearl Street is densely residential. I honestly don't see how it is possible that an African American male could mug someone, chase them down, beat them up, sit on them and carve a perfect, yet backwards B, on someone's face at 9pm without a sole noticing.
She may have been mugged, but the rest of the story...doesn't add up. But of course, I don't expect the national media to investigate such things when sensationalism is so much more fun.
She said he sat on her chest and wrote on her face. Unless he's dyslexic the B would not be backward. Strangely enough I was in that area of Pittsburgh recently and it is a well lit highly trafficked more or less upscale area. Especially on a Saturday evening at 9 PM.
This girl is in a lot of trouble.
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