Thursday, October 23, 2008

SHOCK: MCCAIN VOLUNTEER 'ATTACKED AND MUTILATED' IN PITTSBURGH...

From Drudge Report

A 20-year-old woman who was robbed at an ATM in Bloomfield was also maimed by her attacker, police said.Pittsburgh police spokeswoman Diane Richard tells Channel 4 Action News that the victim was robbed at knifepoint on Wednesday night outside of a Citizens Bank near Liberty Avenue and Pearl Street just before 9 p.m.Richard said the robber took $60 from the woman, then became angry when he saw a McCain bumper sticker on the victim's car.

The attacker then punched and kicked the victim, before using the knife to scratch the letter "B" into her face, Richard said.Richard said the woman refused medical treatment after the assault, which happened outside the view of the bank's surveillance cameras.The robber is described as a dark-skinned black man, 6 feet 4 inches tall, 200 pounds with a medium build, short black hair and brown eyes. The man was wearing dark colored jeans, a black undershirt and black shoes.

The Obama-Biden campaign released a statement, commenting on the attack. The statement said "Our thoughts and prayers are with the young woman for her to make a speedy recovery, and we hope that the person who perpetrated this crime is swiftly apprehended and brought to justice."

Update -Michelle Malkin's blog:

~ I spoke with two executives at the College Republicans on the record about this story. Charlie Smith, the National Chair, and Ethan Eilon, the Executive Director, both say the photo is legitimate and that it came from Ashley Todd, the victim in this case. The attack began at 8:50 pm ET and Ashley called the police at 9:30 PM ET. Initially, she was robbed, ran away after the robbery, and the robber followed her to her car. At that point, he became enraged at the bumper sticker and began beating her and scratched the ‘B’ into her face. Ashley went to the hospital early this morning after initially refusing medical attention last night, and had an MRI and/or a CAT scan. Doctors believe her cheek will heal fully.


UPDATE-MSNBC is reporting that Pittsburgh Police determined  story to be a fake http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27350530

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

Backwards B, like it was done in a mirror. No video of the attack. She did not seek medical treatment. Those are the facts.

Anonymous said...

She looks like a racist, im sure she said something to provoke the guy.

Anonymous said...

Another incident, Ed. In NYC a lady was standing on a street corner holding a McCain sign. She was attacked and hit across the face with the stick that held the sign. When caught, the attacker, an Obama supporter, said he just became so angry when he saw the McCain sign.

c'est moi said...

it's not ok to attack anyone for their beliefs.

i wish a statement as basic as this didn't have to be stated in this day and age, but look, it's where we are.

the absurdity of 'she looks like a racist' and that she probably provoked or deserved an attack is purely an asinine statement.

as for this story, i find it highly suspicious.

haven't we all heard this story one too many times in america? black man fill-in-the-blank(attacks, kills, rapes, etc) a white woman. and then upon further scrutiny, we (the outraged public) find that the woman was lying or there is some other illicit intrigue at play. (recall, the story of the white mother that drowned her children and blamed a black man.)

we know how this current story will spin-- we know what the attempts of some republicans have been to discredit, in any way, obama. trying to link a criminal act to obama is not beyond these antics.

obviously, policies and political positions aren't what's important here. it's race. simple.

a 'legitimate' picture from the victim does not, in itself, legitimize the story. i'm curious about why she initially refused medical attention.

the fact that the doctors say her face will heal fully doesn't answer whether they believe the bruises were self inflicted or ocurred without struggle. it's not too far of a stretch to wonder if this isn't some sort of twisted attempt of mccain supporters to swing a few extra votes. no, not considering the kinds of antics mccain's campaigns have committed thus far.

let's not be too hasty to leave basic scrutiny at the door because you share the political party of the victim.

prepare yourselves for more such stories and other antics to denegrate obama. prepare, most of all, for the great big 'disaster' that's sure to rear its head between now and election day so that we again get distracted from what's really important. the election of a qualified president and vice president- which is obama and biden.

-c'est moi.

Anonymous said...

Wow we have this story, but we don't have the story about Al Qaeda Endorsing Mccain because they know he's a war hawk and puts war before constituents. He would continue Bush's failed policies.

Anonymous said...

Anon don't verbally attack the woman or accuse her of lies or racism, it's tacky... no one deserves what happened to her and the guy needs to be tossed in jail for what he did. That's disgusting and unacceptable.

Oh and fyi - the woman was not a McCain campaign worker, she was a McCain supporter.

I applaud the Obama-Biden campaign for denouncing the attacks.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad Obama talked. The more he distances himself from these jerks, the better. This is the third major attack on McCain supporters. Do the Obama fanatics (not fans - they are the sane ones) think they are doing him a favor?

Also, Hannity et al better not overkill on this. They'll look like vampires. Discuss it quickly and move on unless something really surprising occurs

and as far as the backward b, it could be dyslexia.

Anonymous said...

The Republican Party is just a bunch of white racists. It is filled with a bunch of Angry White Guys (and Gals) who think the 1965 Hart-Celler Immigration Act ruined America because it made it a lot harder for whites from Ireland, England, France, Germany, Italy, etc. to immigrate to the U.S. and made it a lot easier for the Chinese, Indians, Jamaicans, Mexicans, Egyptians, etc. to immigrate to the U.S. What these racists don't GET is that the 1965 Hart-Celler Immigration Act (Thank You Senator Ted Kennedy) greatly increased Diversity in the U.S. which has made OUR Nation stronger and a much more multicultural place to live. Before 1965 Whites of European descent made up 88% of the U.S. population. Now whites only make up 65% of the U.S. population and by 2042 they will only make up 49% of the population. By 2100 Whites of European descent will only make up about 30% of the U.S. population and also by the year 2100 only 3% of the World Population will be White. The 2008 Election is just a turning point in American History though. By the end of this century white Europeans will be out of power in the United States(FINALLY!) and then we can make REAL CHANGES. The World is Flat. The white racist Republicans just don't seem to get it!

Anonymous said...

*sigh* Here we go again. Seriously, look at the picture. First it's a backwards "B" which suggests it was self inflicted. But even more telling is that it's damn near perfect. In high stress situations when you are being held down and afraid for your life...is an attacker going to be able to neatly carve a letter on your face? The answer is no. It would be jagged because no one is going to lay there and let someone do that to them. Your sense of survival wouldn't let you do it.

Was she attacked? Probably. Was it by a crazed Obama supporter who carved a "B" in her face (Wouldn't they have carved an 'O' instead?). Signs point to no...

AMDG, Esquire said...

Well call me a skeptic, but the backwards "B" kinda had me scratching my head as well... but the photo itself could be reversed. If true however, and at this point (my own skepticism aside)we have no reason to not believe it... it's really unfortunate.

Anonymous said...

If you click on the Drudge report link...it looks like there are some holes in her story. I'm for McCain but I do hope we're not going to see a trend in politics. Ironically, I do think the media bias and misinformation will only instigate more of these types of acts.

Anonymous said...

I think we need to be wary of stuff like this. Why refuse medical treatment? I don't know that she is a racist, but something doesn't really smell good here. The other incident, they actually caught that guy....

Anonymous said...

Richard,

You don't really believe this was anything but a staged stunt, do you?

DO YOU?

Anonymous said...

Update

Ashley admits she made the story up.

http://kdka.com/local/attack.McCain.Bloomfield.2.847628.html

Anonymous said...

update:

wow... the lady admitted it was staged... this is INSANE.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/report_mccain_volunteer_who_cl.php

I'm shocked... and I'm even more shocked that Michelle Malkin called it from the beginning...

Joe Clyde said...

This is a fabricated story by a sick desperate for attention woman.

Obama campaign is right. She need to get help.

AMDG, Esquire said...

So MSNBC is reporting that Pittsburgh Police have determined he story to be a fake.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27350530

Nice to see that the both McCain and Palin took the time to 'reach out' to this moron.

Anonymous said...

The police are reporting the story is made up. There's a reason why when stories like this are released you shouldn't rush to print them as fact. Especially when there are so many holes in it.

Anonymous said...

I don't know the true intentions behind the "7:08 anonymous" (she looks racist)remarks, but when I first read them, I thought the tone was snarky and "tounge in cheek." You know, keeping in line with the assumption that the only thing hindering white McCain supporters from embracing Obama is race? Get it? White woman + McCain bumper sticker = she looks racist? The idea that Todd said something to provoke an attack is laugh out loud absurd. That's why I thought it was a joke.

See, watch . . . I'll give it try (clearing throat)

It's nice to see average brothas benefitting from the "blame the victim" tactic. I thought that right was only reserved for black entertainers, athletes, and the like.

Anonymous said...

If it was a staged stunt, which it seems to be, how in the world does that devalue McCain or even other victims of stupid violence? Remember what happened to that lady in New York. What happened in Pittsburg does not change my feelings one wit. Innocent until proven guilty, both parties.

I said it before and I'll say it again - if the O-bots try and lord this over people, they may end up with a surprize come Nov 4. NOONE likes a bully.

Eric_Olson said...

I wish someone here would discuss the implications of this hoax. I sincerely want to hear the perspective of African American republicans on this event. My thought is that posters and readers of this blog would be angry, but nobody is posting anything. What's up?

Paul Hue said...

Hey, uptownsteve! Yes, this looks like a Crystal Magnum incident. It seemed fishy at the onset. What thug is politically aware enough to halt his robbery to take such an action? And how does one guy simultaneously hold down somebody and carve something into a cheek? And now we see that the B is backwards.

Anonymous said...

Mr_Olson,

This 'hoax' (and others like it) could negatively help foster more government intervention (i.e - towards socialism). This would only set back our country in dealing with any form of race issue. We (I think) are looked upon by the rest of the world as the epitome of Democracy. These 'hoaxes' tear at the fabric of Democracy.
These 'hoaxes' only have a negative effect. They only fuel the fire for more outlandish acts and more 'knee jerk' reactions from the media and political pundits.
If anything, MAYBE the media would be wary of reporting any of these 'hoaxes' without more substantial proof.

"Anononymous 9:50 AM"

Anonymous said...

Paul Hue,

More like a Charles Stuart or Susan Smith incident to me.

Thank God nobody died this time though.

Paul Hue said...

Good thing that:

1. The cops zeroed in on the hoax, and arrested no innocents.

2. No massive band of citizens and community leaders staged any rallies demanding "justice" in the form of mandatory acceptance of the claim, and arrest of innocents.

Where are her supporters?

Anonymous said...

"Where are her supporters?"

The whole story came and went within 36 hours.

However Drudge and some conservative blogs (a couple of black ones BTW) were quick to post the story and try to make hay of it.

I think black folks aren't very excited because we expected something like this.

It won't be the last incident over the next 2 weeks.

All the Repubs have left is blatant race baiting.

Paul Hue said...

Drudge put it up quickly, and just as quickly broadcast doubts about it. And no republicans ever staged any angry rally in her support. It seems to me that this fraud got uncovered as quickly as it possibly could. In this supposedly racist country, these sorts of stunts don't fly anymore. At least not from this direction.

Anonymous said...

This story is gross and I am disgusted that it is associated with this campaign.
She is the type of supporter that diminishes the party down to simplicity and ignorance. No doubt, this election is a hot button issue and is striking a cord to the point of ignorant acts of agression. (Note: A Clinton and an Obama supporter got into a knife fight earlier this year.)
Let's be honest with ourselves, that woman's story is beyond fabricated, it's backwards and is not helping anyone's cause. I will believe that kind of hogwash when I see the video of this "dark-skinned black man, short black hair and brown eyes," until then, let's get back to the issues.

Anonymous said...

..............Reality Has a strong Liberal Bias

McCain Communications Director Gave Reporters Incendiary Version Of "Carved B" Story Before Facts Were Known
By Greg Sargent - October 24, 2008, 5:12PM (TPM)

John McCain's Pennsylvania communications director told reporters in the state an incendiary version of the hoax story about the attack on a McCain volunteer well before the facts of the case were known or established -- and even told reporters outright that the "B" carved into the victim's cheek stood for "Barack," according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.

John Verrilli, the news director for KDKA in Pittsburgh, told TPM Election Central that McCain's Pennsylvania campaign communications director gave one of his reporters a detailed version of the attack that included a claim that the alleged attacker said, "You're with the McCain campaign? I'm going to teach you a lesson."

Verrilli also told TPM that the McCain spokesperson had claimed that the "B" stood for Barack. According to Verrilli, the spokesperson also told KDKA that Sarah Palin had called the victim of the alleged attack, who has since admitted the story was a hoax.

The KDKA reporter had called McCain's campaign office for details after seeing the story -- sans details -- teased on Drudge.

The McCain spokesperson's claims -- which came in the midst of extraordinary and heated conversations late yesterday between the McCain campaign, local TV stations, and the Obama camp, as the early version of the story rocketed around the political world -- is significant because it reveals a McCain official pushing a version of the story that was far more explosive than the available or confirmed facts permitted at the time.

The claims to KDKA from the McCain campaign were included in an early story that ran late yesterday on KDKA's Web site. The paragraphs containing these assertions were quickly removed from the story after the Obama campaign privately complained that KDKA was letting the McCain campaign spin a racially-charged version of the story before the facts had been established, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.

The story with the removed grafs is still right here. We preserved the three missing grafs from yesterday:


A source familiar with what happened yesterday confirmed that the unnamed spokesperson was communications director Peter Feldman. Feldman was also quoted yesterday making virtually identical assertions on the Web site of another local TV station, WPXI. But those quotes, which we also preserved here, are also no longer available on WPXI's site, for reasons that are unclear.

This is problematic because the McCain campaign doesn't want to have been perceived as pushing an incendiary story that not only turned out to be a hoax but which police officials said today risked blowing up into a "national incident" and has local police preparing to file charges against the hoaxster.

There's no evidence that anyone from McCain national headquarters put out a version of events like this.

After the story appeared on KDKA's site and this and other pieces in the local press started flying around the political world, an Obama spokesperson in the state angrily insisted to KDKA that it was irresponsible for the station to air the McCain spokesperson's incendiary version of events before the facts were fully known, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.

After that, KDKA went back to McCain's Pennsylvania spokesperson, Feldman, and asked if he stood by the story as he'd earlier told it, but he started backing off the story, a source familiar with the talks says. That prompted KDKA to remove the grafs.

Feldman couldn't immediately be reached, and a McCain HQ spokesperson declined to comment.

Anonymous said...

Paul Hue,

As is your bent, you are trying to draw some twisted analogy between "civilized, sober whites" and "emotional whining blacks" but even you must understand that the reason why whites don't demonstrate incidents like these is because they have the system on their side.

You do remember random black men being thrown down on the pavement, stopped indiscrimintaely and questioned in Boston and SC when Charles Stuart and Susan Smith killed their family members and then blamed phantom black assailants.

Or how about Jena, LA when white kids jump and beat a black kid and none are even arrested but when black kids retaliate and beat a white kid, they get jailed and charged with attempted murder.

Anonymous said...

HAH HA HA Ha Ha ha hahahahahahahaha!

I'm LOVIN' this! Watching the right wing alternately take up the indignant White Purity Sullied banner and then have to drop it like a hot potato! It's a LAUGH RIOT.

Makes my day!

OBAMA/BIDEN 08 for the change we need!

Paul Hue said...

@uptownsteve: I take a backseat to no one in recognizing white folks for uncivilized-ly and drunkenly rioting in the name of sports team victories and defeats, mass-murdering, serially killing, drunk-driving, and date-raping. These crimes attributed to "white" culprits drastically exceed their fraction of the US population.

Thus I do not regard "white people" as uniformly "civilized" and "sober". I agree also that in the Jena case, white folks were the culprits.

Since you have broached here "inter-racial" crimes, though, we should acknowledge that sometime during the 1960s, the ratio flipped, so that today the vast majority (about 90%) are black-on-white, though press accounts do not reflect this.

Overall, blacks and whites have a very low risk today of experiencing an interracial crime. even though whites have a nine times greater chance of experiencing one than does a black person. If a white or black person gets mugged, car jacked, murdered, or raped, the culprit is at least 50% likely to be a black male between the ages of 16 and 36 (approximately).

Charles Stuart, Susan Smith, and this new white chick with the backwards "B" are neither "civilized" nor "sober." Further, "the system" exposed them all, and did so without any angry, organized groups shrieking at its representatives.

Anonymous said...

Did they ever find out who did it to her. Some of the Obama Supporters are taking this election way too far.