In an incident which seems like it epitomizes much of the anger and bitterness of this election season, a McCain campaign worker from College Station, Texas who was in Pittsburgh helping to work a phone bank was robbed and then attacked, brutalized, and disfigured in what appears to be a politically motivated hate crime.
According to a report from television station KDKA, on Wednesday night, 20-year-old Ashley Todd was robbed at knifepoint at an ATM near the Republican phone bank where she had been making calls on behalf of the McCain campaign. After taking $60 from her, the robber noticed the McCain bumper sticker on her car and became enraged. The man hit her in the back of the head, knocked her to the ground and began punching and kicking her. He threatened her with the knife at her throat, finally carving a letter "B" in her cheek. During the attack he reportedly shouted "you are one of those McCain people," making the political motivation of the attack clear. The attacker was described as African-American and about 6' 4" tall with a medium build.
Both John McCain and Sarah Palin have called Ms. Todd with their sympathies and support. A spokeswoman for the Obama campaign in Pittsburgh said that they "hope that the person who perpetrated this crime is swiftly apprehended and brought to justice."
Todd is one of 50 college Republicans working for the McCain campaign and is maintaining a blog of her experiences on the campaign trail. The picture to the right appears to be her based on photos from her blog and shows her with a backwards "B" on her cheek and a black eye. Its provenance is unknown.
In response to claims from pro-Obama bloggers that the story is fabricated and that she mutilated herself, Todd has offered to take a lie-detector test administered by the police. Police will also be viewing ATM video footage to verify her report and attempt to identify the attacker.
Since this story was published Ashley Todd has admitted the attack was a hoax and further details have come out. For a followup and commentary see my followup article - DN
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Matthew T. Sussman
I've said it every time I've seen that picture tonight.
Why the hell is the 'B' backwards?
2 - Dave Nalle
I am not going to question her story at this point. She lives not far from here and she's an aggie and aggies are too dumb to lie.
However, in addition to being backwards, the B doesn't look like it was done with a knife, but rather with a pen or other pointed non-bladed object.
That said, if this story is even partly true - and we've got no evidence to contradict it at this point - it confirms everything I've observed elsewhere about the fanaticism of Obama supporters.
When my daughter comes home from school and admits that she's afraid to tell anyone her mother supports McCain, that worries me.
Dave
3 - john
It's easy to get a backwards B on your face... if you draw it on there yourself while looking in a mirror.
That's just one possibility. Another is the attacker had her on the ground and did it from above her over her head. Of course this means he was not in a position to hold her down while he carefully carved a B on her face, so she would have to keep still.
Why he spent time making a B when an O would have been quicker, who knows... ???
4 - Matthew T. Sussman
Oh I'm not questioning the story at this point. It just bugs me is all. My penmanship to draw a backwards letter wouldn't be nearly as neat as however that 'B' got there.
5 - Will
1. The 'B' is backwards, as if she did it in the mirror.
2. The 'B' is so dull that it looks as if it were slightly scratched, NOT with a 5 inch knife.
3. There's no swelling on the left eye.
4. She drove an extra several miles to save $1.50 on ATM fees, only to use another ATM anyway.
5. It's a well-populated, well lit suburban area and a safe one to boot, and NO ONE is confirming it.
5. It's a 38-degree night, and someone is wearing a tank top?
6. Conservative pundits like Michelle Malkin are calling foul.
7. She didn't ask to go to a hospital located 3 miles away.
8. Conveniently, the incident was just out of the view of ATM cameras.
9. 'B' was carved. 'O' is easier and more identifiable with Obama.
10. The mugger apparently knew it was her because of her bumper sticker. First off, there were several cars there. Secondly, she didn't tell police this when she first spoke to them.
I don't believe this for a second.
6 - Sarah
This is so fake. It's not carved or swollen, she scratched it herself in the mirror, forgetting to reverse the image so it's backwards. Her eye makeup is running and the eye isn't red or swollen at all. I'd love to see the ATM footage before they send this crazy girl to jail.
7 - lisam
I want to believe this young woman is telling the truth. I'm an Obama supporter and I still want to believe she is telling the truth. If she's lying, she's either acutely mentally ill, or she's morally bankrupt.
The trouble is, I saw the photograph, and I can't believe she is telling the truth. Black eyes don't look like that, especially fresh black eyes. If the photograph was taken within hours of the attack, the more injured eye should show a great deal more swelling. Both of her eyes look a little puffy, as if she weren't getting enough sleep, but neither eye shows the kind of swelling I would expect with a black eye. An injured eye usually swells shut--both eyes are beautifully wide open in the photograph. The color isn't right, either. Early on in a black eye, the swelling should be red-to-purple, not gray. It isn't the lighting, because other areas of her skin are a normal pink. The conjunctiva (inner eyelids) and sclera (white parts) of the more injured eye should also show significant redness--they don't.
As for the "B" carved into her cheek, either her alleged assailant had a very dull knife, had a very light touch, or she did it herself, perhaps with a toothpick or the tine of a fork. There won't be any scarring, and it looked like there might not even be any scabbing. I would expect some nutcase with a knife to hold her face quite forcefully to carve a letter on her cheek, so I have to ask why there aren't any red or purpling finger marks on her chin, jaw or throat.
I can only hope the security cameras show something to prove that this young woman is NOT lying. Unfortunately, I don't think that will be the case.
8 - Dr Dreadful
Damn, I wish I hadn't seen the comments (in my editing capacity) before reading this. Now I've no idea if I'm being objective. Nevertheless...
Spend enough time being interested in politics or crime and sooner or later you realize that the little light that flashes on and off every so often in the corner of your mind has the word BULLSHIT! stenciled onto it.
The light's been flashing more and more often the closer we get to November 4th.
Quite apart from the fact that the details of the alleged assault all seem so pat (the darkened parking lot, the 6'4" black man*, the unconvincing dialog), the backwards B, as many have already observed, is the oddest detail. Way back
in the early Bronze Agebefore digital cameras, that would have been easy to explain away - someone just accidentally flipped the negative. Nowadays, although digital photos can be flipped, it's not something that's easy to do just by accident.That said, I'm fine with giving her the benefit of the doubt for now: if she really is dumb enough to take a lie detector test, we'll know one way or the other before long whether she's been spinning us a yarn.
Oh, one final thing: if anyone might be hoping that this is the October Surprise - it isn't.
* Sound familiar?
9 - Cannonshop
Michelle Malkin thinks she's faking it, and given Ms Malkin's general dim view of Obama supporters, that's kind of a red flag. OTOH, ATM's have these neat devices called "Cameras". Confirming the event (for the Police) shouldn't be too difficult, so there's the possibility that some, most, or all of the girl's story is correct.
There's also the possibility that some, most, or all of the girl's story is utter and total bullshit.
We'll know for certain if it goes to trial, (and if anyone bothers to cover said trial) but that won't be for months if ever.
The awful part of this, is that it's so easy to believe until you look at the photo, and only then is there doubt raised.
10 - Dave Nalle
BTW, if she took that picture herself, looking in a mirror and holding the camera off to the side and then cropping the camera out - which is entirely possible - then the B is in her LEFT cheek, not her right cheek and faces the proper direction if someone else had cut it in her face.
What really starts to trouble me here is how fast we got a large number of posts from people eager to dispute her claim with no evidence to back them up and no willingness to give her the benefit of the doubt. It's part of the same hate that might have motivated this crime.
Dave
11 - Patrick
The is B is backwards! Unless you are looking into a mirror and etching it on yourself! This will be exposed as a scam. I work in an ED and witness many "cuts." That superficial abrasion looks gently applied, and she would have to have remained completely still during the episode. Keep the public updated on this one! I smell a lie! Look at the eye, have you ever been punched by a 6'4" 200# man...you would look much worse my friends. I live in this area, and I just drove down this street approx 9pm. Very, very crowded!
12 - sus
I read police are looking at surveillance cameras from neighboring businesses. I don't know. If I was in a strange city, I don't think I'd go looking for an ATM to save a few bucks? And, twitter while I'm driving in a strange city? Not get medical treatment until next day? Maybe the other cameras will provide the information. But, I just don't know about this story.
13 - Dr Dreadful
The awful part of this, is that it's so easy to believe until you look at the photo, and only then is there doubt raised.
Why would one doubt it, Cannon? When you read an account of a mugging in the local paper, you don't doubt that it actually happened.
Dave makes a good point that the backwards B could be explained if she took the photo herself in the mirror. The only problem with this is an apparent statement by the responding officer that he saw the cut/mark on her right cheek, and the mirror theory would place it on her left.
No doubt there will swiftly be a bevy of photographic experts rendering their verdicts that it was indeed, and was not, taken into a mirror.
This wouldn't have gotten all the attention but for the political aspect. Is it a coincidence that the incident happened in Pennsylvania - the state John McCain is now betting the farm on?
14 - Dave Nalle
As for the medical attention thing, I once got stabbed in the cheek - all the way right through. It didn't bleed and I didn't go to the hospital. I still have a half-inch scar to this day, though.
Point being that sometimes people don't actually think clearly when they get in a situation like this.
Dave
15 - El Bicho
"What really starts to trouble me here is how fast we got a large number of posts from people eager to dispute her claim with no evidence to back them up"
That's a riot coming from someone who doesn't even know "if this story is even partly true."
"if she took that picture herself,"
Nice try on defending the photo. Considering her hair parts the same way as it does in her other pics on her blog, it's not likely she took it in a mirror unless she changed her hairstyle recently, so the "B" would be backwards.
And what exactly is up with her twittering?
Stubbornly searching for a bank of america to avoid ATM fees. Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:23:21
then 20 minutes later she let's everyone know
Pretty sure I'm on the wrong side of pittsburgh
Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:45:59
proceeds to get out and use an ATM anyway and as luck would have it a black man robs her, goes to leave, sees the McCain sticker, and then comes back to etch a backwards 'B'.
"It's part of the same hate that might have motivated this crime."
What a load of crap. If you don't find this story suspicious from the evidence so far, you need to get your critical reasoning skills checked.
btw, I love how people are jumping to the presumption that this was an Obama supporter because it was a black guy. From all that has been reported he could be a Baldwin supporter.
Psst, your bias is showing.
16 - RonPaulin08
It's not just that the "B" is backwards, and too "neat." That's not a knife cut. WAY too rounded, and it looks like the skin wasn't even broken. Seriously, try to make a cut like that with a blade on a still object, never mind imagining someone resisting and moving. Ridiculous on the face of it. And I'm not an Obama supporter.
17 - El Bicho
From the Pittsburgh Tribune Review:
Police planned to administer a polygraph test to Ashley Todd, 20, because her statements about the attack conflict with evidence from the Citizens Bank ATM where she claims the incident occurred, police said.
18 - Cannonshop
Well, not that it matters, but it looks like Ms. Malkin (that'd be "Satan's mistress" in Alex Jones Speak) was right again, and this is a fabricated event.
Too bad, it casts aspersions on REAL Events, and will have the opposite impact to what the young lady no doubt intended-I expect a 'sympathy bounce' that will solidify Obama's lead and help bury real incidents of intimidation, fraud, and abuse.
The girl needs a gibbslap.
19 - NoWay
Just another McCain campaign screw up. Couldn't they at least have had the intelligence to provide this girl some help with the B?
The whole thing is disgusting.
And the way the robo-McCains across the internet have all started screaming about how evil and violent all Obama supporters are.
Even if this incident were true... it is ONE INCIDENT. To paint all 200 Million Obama supporter with the same brush is absurd.
20 - bobbiewick
Why does anybody even listen to pro-Obama bloggers? Anybody reading what they write on Huffington Post knows the level of sheer hate and ignorance that they spew. An attack of this kind is not surprising. The only thing that's surprising is that it hasn't happened more often.