McCain Supporter Attacked In Pittsburg, 'B' Carved Into Face

[Matt]

Someone dumb enough to not notice that Twitter timestamps updates?

Touche.

 

[DACrowe]

Well I hope it isn't a hoax for the girl's sake. If she did that to herself...wow.

If someone else is responsible, I hope he is brought to justice soon. If she did it to herself, I'll wait to see the truth come out. I won't pass judgement one way or another until then, though.

 

[souvlaki]

Well I hope it isn't a hoax for the girl's sake. If she did that to herself...wow.

If someone else is responsible, I hope he is brought to justice soon. If she did it to herself, I'll wait to see the truth come out. I won't pass judgement one way or another until then, though.

If she did this to herself she deserves every bit of criticism she has coming to her. Accusing a black Obama supporter of beating her in a swing state not only risks the Presidential election, but it also could sever race relations not only in PA, but in the whole country.

 

[redfirebird2008]

If she did this to herself she deserves every bit of criticism she has coming to her. Accusing a black Obama supporter of beating her in a swing state not only risks the Presidential election, but it also could sever race relations not only in PA, but in the whole country.

Well, to my understanding she claims to have been robbed first before the attacker saw her McCain sticker. So not necessarily an Obama supporter but definitely not a McCain fan.

 

[Doctor Jones]

If she did this to herself she deserves every bit of criticism she has coming to her. Accusing a black Obama supporter of beating her in a swing state not only risks the Presidential election, but it also could sever race relations not only in PA, but in the whole country.

You may be taking it a bit too far dude. But we don't know. It's terrible either way.

 

[The Senator]

Sigh.

I was going to respond by saying this is deplorable. But since this appears to be a hoax, I am responding by saying this girl's hoax is downright deplorable.

 

[Superman]

So is the story real or fake?

 

[souvlaki]

So is the story real or fake?

It's suspicious. Her Twitter account doesn't jive with the official time of the attack, and to be perfectly honest her Twitter updates are just downright suspicious to start off with. They sound like they are written by someone that is trying to cover their tracks. The backwards "B", the Twitter account, the attack happening outside the view of the atm camera, and the fact that she refused to seek medical attention leads me to believe some idiot thought they could swing Pennsylvania by perpetrating a hoax. If this is real it's horrible and I hope they catch whoever did this. But there are enough problems in her story to where I'd say it would be better to wait until a thorough police investigation has been concluded before believing it.

 

[Honey Vibe]

It's a hoax guys.

In addition to what has already been said, her eye is not swollen; she just smeared black powder around it. She must have refused medical treatment because her injuries were bogus.

 

[souvlaki]

Oh, the wonders of the MySpace generation. This is the headline on her MySpace page:

"Lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her cloths off, but its better if you do."

 

[Knives]

Man, if this is fake, I don't even know what to say. What a horrendously stupid, god awful thing to do.

 

[souvlaki]

Man, if this is fake, I don't even know what to say. What a horrendously stupid, god awful thing to do.

Well, if this turns out to be bogus it will prove to be a dumb move on her part. Possible criminal charges, not to mention being embarrassed on a national level. I just can't imagine that stupidity behind trying to lie about something like this.

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

I smell a great deal of fakery with this. A great deal, mind you.

 

[souvlaki]

A Hoax Mugging?
Pierre Tristam / Candide’s Notebooks, October 23, 2008

There’s something luridly fishy—and disgustingly familiar in a Mockingbird kind of way—about a McCain volunteer’s claim that she was mugged by a “black” man and had her face carved with a “B” because he saw a McCain sticker on her car.

Here’s what the Post-Gazette is writing (the italics are mine):

“Pittsburgh Police are investigating a report by a campaign staffer for John McCain that she was mugged and the letter B was cut into her face following a robbery in Bloomfield last night. Police say the 20-year-old woman, who is from Texas, reported that the attack occurred around 9 p.m. after she withdrew $60 from an ATM at Liberty Avenue and Pearl Street. She said a man armed with a knife demanded her money. She gave it to him and began walking toward her car, which has McCain stickers. Although the robber had moved away from her, he became agitated when he saw her car, punched her in the back of the head, pushed her to the ground and carved a B into her face, she reported.

I highlight the description because in the photograph of the woman, Ashley Todd, she has a black eye, which, generally speaking, is the result of trauma to the front of the head.

"This is what she's telling police," police spokeswoman Diane Richard said. "We can't substantiate it at this time."



Another curious comment from law enforcement, who generally don’t cast doubt on police reports before the ink is dry. The inverted B is a curiosity as well, on two counts: inversion is itself odd, but “carving” a B on someone’s face isn’t like carving an X or an I or an L, it’s a multi-motion act that, with a knife to boot, requires a bit of time and care, especially if the result, as in this case, is as seemingly even. People who are getting their face carved in generally—generally, of course—don’t sit still for the experience, as if in a tattoo parlor. They’re generally—generally, of course—terrified and shaken. This B doesn’t look either shaky or shaken.

Police are checking video footage from a bank surveillance camera. Ms. Richard said the woman, who police are not identifying publicly, declined medical treatment at the scene. The suspect is described as black, 6 feet 4 inches, about 200 pounds. He was wearing dark clothing.

The proverbial assailant is always black, always big, always wearing dark clothing, and usually operates on dark and stormy nights in dark alleys. Plus, the alleged victim sent her picture straight to the Drudge Report. No medical attention for a stranger's blade on the cheek, but a lunge for Drudge. Fishier and fishier.

Interestingly, the measured response to the mugging is coming from no less a place than Hot Air, Michelle Malkin’s Mussolinesque yellfest at all things liberal and larger-minded. Ed Morrissey writes:

I don’t think this says anything terribly significant about the election or either candidate. Criminals aren’t known for their kindness, temperament, or intellect, and this particular criminal sounds like he’s a couple of bricks short of a load even for that crowd. The initial crime had nothing to do with politics at all, so it’s not an example of partisan thuggery as one would expect some to paint it.

I’m sure that the two campaigns will be sure to reach out to the woman. Someone will undoubtedly press the Obama campaign for a reaction, and will get the obligatory and emphatic denunciation that everyone would expect. We have many more important issues to debate, and many more cogent reasons to oppose Barack Obama than the offhand cruelty of one criminal in Pittsburgh. […] Let’s remember that Bill Gwatney got shot to death in an Arkansas Democratic HQ in June. It’s dangerous to generalize on partisan lines when discussing one disturbing act of violence.

Update V: Some people are already saying “hoax”; I think that’s unlikely (but still possible). Thanks to the local news report, we know the attack occurred. Not too many young women would scar their faces just to create a political hoax.

I get the feeling that what’s going on here is that even Morrissey (who blared the story in a gorilla-size headline on his site before reducing it to his fly-swat font) is sensing, possibly fearing, a hoax. Drudge isn't. There's the unassailable: a mugging is a mugging. Revolting whatever the circumstances. But if this does end up being a hoax, in do-or-die battleground Pennsylvania of all places, it’ll be yet another smear on the McCain campaign, no matter how unassociated the campaign itself may be with it (although with this campaign, you never know). Not just a smear, but an insult, primarily and especially to Pennsylvanians, who won’t likely react very happily at the polls.

http://pierretristam.com/Bobst/08/bn102308.htm

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

I think the mugging part might possibly be legit. But the carving of the letter "B" in her face? Um, Hell No. : I definitely don't believe that.

No one is going to lay there while you make butterfly curves all over their face. The article makes a good point--to sit there and carve that particular letter would take time and a meticulous, steady hand. That'd be hella hard to accomplish if the woman is fighting for her life.

Unless, she wasn't fighting.

 

[souvlaki]

I think the mugging part might possibly be legit. But the carving of the letter "B" in her face? Um, Hell No. : I definitely don't believe that.

No one is going to lay there while you make butterfly curves all over their face. The article makes a good point--to sit there and carve that particular letter would take time and a meticulous, steady hand. That'd be hella hard to accomplish if the woman is fighting for her life.

Unless, she wasn't fighting.

Well, the part that doesn't make sense is she was mugged in a part of Pittsburgh that by all accounts according to locals is fairly busy and well lit at 9pm, and there are absolutely no witnesses. Also, if the guy took the time to carve a giant "B" in her face, why didn't he take the time to force her to withdraw cash from the ATM, or steal the keys to her car? He obviously knew which car was hers. I hate to accuse someone of lying about this, but this story just reeks of bull****. There are just too many holes in her story to take it seriously.

 

[ManofmyWord]

Why "B"?

Wouldn't "O" be so much easier?

 

[Marx]

I smell something...stinky.

 

[Excel]

Why "B"?

Wouldn't "O" be so much easier?

If he was smart, he wouldnt be a mugger

 

[The Senator]

If he was smart, he wouldnt be a mugger

Well apparently there wasn't a mugger, so this girl is just an obvious idiot who knows nothing about mirrors. Then again, she uses Twitter, so that is to be expected.

 

[souvlaki]

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.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_594939.html


Also, a few people on a local Pittsburgh messageboard that are familiar with the area where the crime took place:

This is a very suspicious story. First of all I lived in Bloomfield at one point in my life and there is no way that a woman would be robbed, beaten and have a B carved in her face in broad daylight in Bloomfield with no one doing anything. Bloomfield is a very vibrant community and there are plenty of people on Liberty avenue at all times of the day and night. This didn't happen, believe me, there are police around there at all times, especially with West Penn Hospital there. The cameras will tell it all. This is a set up to perpetuate fear just like the Willie Horton advertisements years ago.

Don't believe it one bit, in another neighborhood, maybe, but not in Bloomfield. It is one of the most closely knitted communities in Pittsburgh.

So tell me again how this happened on this busiest part of the busiest strip in Bloomfield, right across the street from a cop bar, and nobody saw anything.

This is absolutely ridiculous. What made this brand new person to Pittsburgh think that Bloomfield was a "bad part of town" (according to her Twitter page). She was on Liberty Avenue before 9 PM for Pete's sake! There are bars and restaurants all over the place. I can't even believe that there would be enough time to rob her, assault her AND take the time to carve her face without anyone noticing the attack.

If she was attacked, it's terrible and I hope she's OK.

But if you're familiar with the city, there are several things about this story that don't track. Bloomfield (where the attack happened) is a busy, lively, mostly Italian Catholic neighborhood. To outsiders, all of Pittsburgh probably looks a little scary, but Bloomfied is a mellow, really nice place.

At 9pm on a Wednesday night in Bloomfield, people would have been out walking, shopping, going to dinner, bars, coffee-shops, riding bikes. There's a hospital right across the street from the ATM at Liberty and Pearl, with nurses and doctors coming and going all the time. Liberty Ave -- a big, busy thoroughfare -- would have been flush with cars at that hour.

If I was having a backwards "B" carved into my face, I would probably be screaming the whole time. I'm guessing it takes at least 10 seconds to carve a letter into someone's cheek -- probably more, if the person is squirming around (which she must not have been, because, other than the fact that it's backwards, it's a pretty solid-looking "B"Wink. So we're talking about an attacker who not only risked robbing someone at knifepoint on a busy street, he also risked drawing attention to the attack by provoking several seconds of screaming, during which he had to stick around and finish the job.

As hard-to-believe as all of that is, there's an even more far-fetched detail. I can't imagine any scenario where Pittsburghers -- Bloomfielders! -- would have walked or driven or stood by while someone was under attack long enough to have a B carved into her face. That's not how Pittsburgh rolls.

if anybody has ever been to this exact area they will know two things: 1. it is always crowded, especially at "around 9:00 pm", it's filled with bars, resturants and coffeehouses. 2. there is a huge older italian population, pittsburghs' little italy, who lives there and sit outside of the houses all hours of the night.

this is not a bad part of town at all, as she spoke about on her blog.

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com...essages.cfm?sitekey=pit&Forum=182&Topic=18950



The parts I put in bold are such immediate red flags. If this actually did occur than I apologize for doubting her story. But as of right now this just sounds like a cry for attention. Worst hoax ever.

 

[Superman]

A "White Woman" blames a "Black Man" for attacking her because she's a McCain supporter?

I thought this country was at the very least past people trying THIS kind of race baiting crap.

 

[redfirebird2008]

Hopefully they will ask her during the polygraph not only if she was mugged, but if she was the one who carved the B in her face or if it was the mugger. I think it's possible she was mugged by a black guy, but decided to carve her own face to do a little political race baiting.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

How would the attacker even know she was a McCain supporter?

 

[redfirebird2008]

How would the attacker even know she was a McCain supporter?

She claims he saw the bumper sticker on her car, which is another part of the story that doesn't add up. He would have had to go out of his way to do this. She claims he robbed her, THEN saw the bumper sticker, then became enraged and decided to carve her face.