MAC HATER SLASHED UP MY FACE
A woman campaigning for John McCain in Pittsburgh claims she was mugged by a knife-wielding man who then "carved the letter 'B' into her face" after spotting a McCain bumper sticker on her car, police said yesterday.
Ashley Todd, 20, a Texas native, told police she was using a Citizens Bank ATM at about 8:55 p.m. Wednesday when a man rushed up, put a 4-to-5-inch knife to her throat and demanded money.
UPDATE: Attack 'Victim' Changes Her Story
She said she gave him $60, and "she remembers moving away from [him]," said police spokeswoman Diane Richard.
"Then, she said, he noticed a McCain bumper sticker on her car and became very angry.
"[She] reported he punched her in the back of the head, knocking her to the ground, and continued to punch and kick while threatening to teach her a lesson for being a McCain supporter."
Richard said the victim said the attacker called her "a lot of names and stated that 'You are going to be a Barack supporter'," pinning her hands down while carving the letter B on her face "using what she believed to be a very dull knife."
Pennsylvania has been a key battleground state, where McCain and Barack Obama have both been campaigning hard.
The attack lasted 5-10 minutes, after which the suspect fled. Todd said she drove to a friend's house, cops said. That friend called police.
When an officer offered her medical attention, Todd said she'd go to the hospital the next day, Richard said.
Cops are treating the alleged attack with skepticism, unnamed law-enforcement sources told TMZ.com. A source told The Post that cops were considering administering a lie-detector test.
Richard would only say the investigation was continuing. Todd, who was being re-interviewed last night, remained inside the stationhouse early today.
"We can't substantiate that it was politically motivated," Richard said early today. She said police are trying to retrieve surveillance tape from the area.
After the attack, Todd posted this message on a GOP college blog: "Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers - I'm phonebanking, so let's all work together and get John McCain elected."
It also appears she was using Twitter - a social-messaging Internet application for wireless devices - around the time of the reported attack.
In one post, she wrote, "Stubbornly searching for a Bank of America to avoid ATM fees," she said.
Shortly after, she wrote, "Pretty sure I'm on the wrong side of Pittsburgh."
McCain's campaign said he and Sarah Palin spoke to Todd's family yesterday.
Obama's campaign released a statement, saying, "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."
Ethan Eilon, executive director of the College Republican National Committee, the group Todd was volunteering with, said he'd spoken to her several times over the day.
"She's recovering. Obviously, she's had a pretty rough 24 hours," he said.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10242008/news/politics/mac_hater_slashed_up_my_face_135034.htm
Gotcha Bitch!
POLICE: MCCAIN VOLUNTEER ADMITS SHE MADE UP ATTACK STORY
PITTSBURGH - A McCain campaign volunteer who reported that a black man robbed her and carved a "B" into her cheek after seeing a McCain sticker on her car has admitted to making up the story, cops said.
Ashley Todd, 20, from Texas, is expected to be charged this afternoon with filing a false police report.
Cops said red flags in her story included photos and bank card information from a Pittsburgh automated teller machine where the college student claimed she was robbed on Wednesday night which did not show her using the machine.
She was given two polygraph tests.
Among the differences in her accounts are whether she lost consciousness, whether she remembers handing over money and how the man assaulted her, police said.
The report of the attack Thursday prompted the Republican presidential candidate and his running mate, Sarah Palin, to call Todd expressing their concern. Barack Obama's campaign also issued a statement wishing Todd well and hoping the attacker would be swiftly brought to justice.
The Associated Press could not immediately locate Todd or her family.
Ethan Eilon, executive director of the College Republican National Committee, told reporters that Todd worked in New York for several months before moving to Pennsylvania two weeks ago to continue working for the group.
Eilon declined to comment on the investigation Friday or to help The Associated Press contact Todd. In a follow-up e-mail, Eilon said, "We think this girl has endured enough and that this is going to be something for her and her family to work through."
Diane Richard, the Pittsburgh police spokeswoman, said police have pictures of the victim and her injuries, but are not releasing them. She said they are "more or less" consistent with a picture that has surfaced on the Internet that show a woman with a black eye and a red backward "B" that looks like a welt or scrape on her right cheek.
"It's not like her cheek was carved out," Richard said. "It's more like a scrape or a scratch."
In her initial account, Richard said, Todd attempted to use the ATM when the man approached her from behind, put a knife with a 4- to 5-inch blade to her throat and demanded money. She told police she handed the assailant $60 and walked away.
Todd told investigators that she suspected the man then noticed a John McCain sticker on her car, became angry and punched her in the back of the head, knocking her to the ground and telling her "you are going to be a Barack supporter," police said in a statement.
She said he continued to punch and kick her while threatening "to teach her a lesson for being a McCain supporter," police said. She said he then sat on her chest, pinned her hands down with his knees and scratched a backward letter "B" into her face using what she believed to be a dull knife.
The woman told police she didn't seek medical attention, but instead went to a friend's apartment nearby and called police about 45 minutes later.
Police have reinterviewed Todd at least once since her initial statement, Richard said.
In the subsequent discussions with investigators, according to the police statement, Todd said she was accosted as she approached the bank and fled her attacker, fell to the ground and the assailant began beating and fondling her.
Police Cmdr. Larry Ross, who is in charge of the police precinct where the attack was first reported, said Todd's story has continued to change.
"I guess she elaborated more when she went down to the bureau headquarters. She added other things to it that we didn't have at first, that she didn't tell the initial officer," Ross said.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10242008/news/politics/police__mccain_volunteer_changes_story_135114.htm
A woman campaigning for John McCain in Pittsburgh claims she was mugged by a knife-wielding man who then "carved the letter 'B' into her face" after spotting a McCain bumper sticker on her car, police said yesterday.
Ashley Todd, 20, a Texas native, told police she was using a Citizens Bank ATM at about 8:55 p.m. Wednesday when a man rushed up, put a 4-to-5-inch knife to her throat and demanded money.
UPDATE: Attack 'Victim' Changes Her Story
She said she gave him $60, and "she remembers moving away from [him]," said police spokeswoman Diane Richard.
"Then, she said, he noticed a McCain bumper sticker on her car and became very angry.
"[She] reported he punched her in the back of the head, knocking her to the ground, and continued to punch and kick while threatening to teach her a lesson for being a McCain supporter."
Richard said the victim said the attacker called her "a lot of names and stated that 'You are going to be a Barack supporter'," pinning her hands down while carving the letter B on her face "using what she believed to be a very dull knife."
Pennsylvania has been a key battleground state, where McCain and Barack Obama have both been campaigning hard.
The attack lasted 5-10 minutes, after which the suspect fled. Todd said she drove to a friend's house, cops said. That friend called police.
When an officer offered her medical attention, Todd said she'd go to the hospital the next day, Richard said.
Cops are treating the alleged attack with skepticism, unnamed law-enforcement sources told TMZ.com. A source told The Post that cops were considering administering a lie-detector test.
Richard would only say the investigation was continuing. Todd, who was being re-interviewed last night, remained inside the stationhouse early today.
"We can't substantiate that it was politically motivated," Richard said early today. She said police are trying to retrieve surveillance tape from the area.
After the attack, Todd posted this message on a GOP college blog: "Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers - I'm phonebanking, so let's all work together and get John McCain elected."
It also appears she was using Twitter - a social-messaging Internet application for wireless devices - around the time of the reported attack.
In one post, she wrote, "Stubbornly searching for a Bank of America to avoid ATM fees," she said.
Shortly after, she wrote, "Pretty sure I'm on the wrong side of Pittsburgh."
McCain's campaign said he and Sarah Palin spoke to Todd's family yesterday.
Obama's campaign released a statement, saying, "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."
Ethan Eilon, executive director of the College Republican National Committee, the group Todd was volunteering with, said he'd spoken to her several times over the day.
"She's recovering. Obviously, she's had a pretty rough 24 hours," he said.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10242008/news/politics/mac_hater_slashed_up_my_face_135034.htm
Gotcha Bitch!
POLICE: MCCAIN VOLUNTEER ADMITS SHE MADE UP ATTACK STORY
PITTSBURGH - A McCain campaign volunteer who reported that a black man robbed her and carved a "B" into her cheek after seeing a McCain sticker on her car has admitted to making up the story, cops said.
Ashley Todd, 20, from Texas, is expected to be charged this afternoon with filing a false police report.
Cops said red flags in her story included photos and bank card information from a Pittsburgh automated teller machine where the college student claimed she was robbed on Wednesday night which did not show her using the machine.
She was given two polygraph tests.
Among the differences in her accounts are whether she lost consciousness, whether she remembers handing over money and how the man assaulted her, police said.
The report of the attack Thursday prompted the Republican presidential candidate and his running mate, Sarah Palin, to call Todd expressing their concern. Barack Obama's campaign also issued a statement wishing Todd well and hoping the attacker would be swiftly brought to justice.
The Associated Press could not immediately locate Todd or her family.
Ethan Eilon, executive director of the College Republican National Committee, told reporters that Todd worked in New York for several months before moving to Pennsylvania two weeks ago to continue working for the group.
Eilon declined to comment on the investigation Friday or to help The Associated Press contact Todd. In a follow-up e-mail, Eilon said, "We think this girl has endured enough and that this is going to be something for her and her family to work through."
Diane Richard, the Pittsburgh police spokeswoman, said police have pictures of the victim and her injuries, but are not releasing them. She said they are "more or less" consistent with a picture that has surfaced on the Internet that show a woman with a black eye and a red backward "B" that looks like a welt or scrape on her right cheek.
"It's not like her cheek was carved out," Richard said. "It's more like a scrape or a scratch."
In her initial account, Richard said, Todd attempted to use the ATM when the man approached her from behind, put a knife with a 4- to 5-inch blade to her throat and demanded money. She told police she handed the assailant $60 and walked away.
Todd told investigators that she suspected the man then noticed a John McCain sticker on her car, became angry and punched her in the back of the head, knocking her to the ground and telling her "you are going to be a Barack supporter," police said in a statement.
She said he continued to punch and kick her while threatening "to teach her a lesson for being a McCain supporter," police said. She said he then sat on her chest, pinned her hands down with his knees and scratched a backward letter "B" into her face using what she believed to be a dull knife.
The woman told police she didn't seek medical attention, but instead went to a friend's apartment nearby and called police about 45 minutes later.
Police have reinterviewed Todd at least once since her initial statement, Richard said.
In the subsequent discussions with investigators, according to the police statement, Todd said she was accosted as she approached the bank and fled her attacker, fell to the ground and the assailant began beating and fondling her.
Police Cmdr. Larry Ross, who is in charge of the police precinct where the attack was first reported, said Todd's story has continued to change.
"I guess she elaborated more when she went down to the bureau headquarters. She added other things to it that we didn't have at first, that she didn't tell the initial officer," Ross said.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10242008/news/politics/police__mccain_volunteer_changes_story_135114.htm
Sorry guys I've been putting in a lot of OT at work. I'm really not up on my current events like I should be.
