Ashley Todd, McCain Attack Scammer, Reaches Deal With Police

PITTSBURGH — A volunteer for John McCain's presidential campaign agreed Thursday to enter a probation program for first-time offenders for falsely reporting that a Barack Obama supporter robbed and assaulted her and scratched a "B" on her cheek.

Ashley Todd, 20, of College Station, Texas, claimed the attack happened when a robber saw her McCain bumper sticker. Todd appeared before a city judge and waived her right to a hearing and was to be released from jail later Thursday.

Under the agreement, her criminal record will be expunged after if she stays out of trouble and gets mental treatment on probation. Most people spend a year on probation in the program, which is for first-time, nonviolent offenders.

"Our focus was really, 'This is somebody who appeared to have some mental issues,'" said prosecutor Chris Avetta. "And we wanted to make sure she doesn't hurt herself or anybody else."

Todd's public defender, Emily McNally, declined to comment.

Todd initially told investigators she was attempting to use a bank ATM on Oct. 22 when a 6-foot-4 black man approached her from behind, put a knife to her throat and demanded money. She told police she handed the assailant $60 and walked away.

Todd, who is white, told investigators she suspected the man then noticed a McCain sticker on her car. She said the man punched her in the back of the head, knocked her to the ground and scratched a backward letter "B" into her face with a dull knife.

After admitting she made up the story, the woman told investigators she believed she cut the "B" onto her own cheek but didn't remember doing so, police said last week.

She was charged with a misdemeanor count of making a false police report and had been jailed since Oct. 24. She underwent a court-ordered psychiatric examination and was deemed to be competent to stand trial but in need of further counseling.

The charge Todd faced carries a maximum two-year jail sentence. Assistant Police Chief Maurita Bryant said Todd must abide by the conditions of her release or risk being prosecuted on the charge.

"I think what she needed mostly was counseling," Bryant said. "The only one she actually hurt was herself, although there could have been so many other ramifications based on her actions."

The case generated national media attention when a picture showing Todd with a black eye and the red "B" on her cheek was posted online.

Initial reports of the mugging prompted calls of support from McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, and his running mate, Sarah Palin. The College Republican National Committee at first criticized the attack, then fired and disowned Todd once the hoax was exposed.

Comments

[Bombalot]

How do cops think? Pittsburg Policeman Bryant said. "The only one she actually hurt was herself." This is like saying lynching was not that common. How can someone say that? Does he not think things like this hurt race relations, which, he ought to realize, is kind of a huge problem everywhere.

[sillyseason]

Thank God people who think her like are now a minority in our great country.

[Bombalot]

If she were a black man, who somehow threatened McCain or Bush's people, she would not ever be released. In fact, if she were found mentally ill, and faced capital punishment and black or brown, there would be no sympathy. I truly hope she and her kind get exactly what they deserve and soon.

[cougarrr15]

Is it me or does she look a little like Rove?

[chloe4455]

I was wondering what was her motive?

[Caddisfly]

Sad, just sad.

[bellabeach]

Ashley needs big help and meds...

[Pfellah]

I find myself torn: part of me wanted to see the cops throw the book at her because the things that COULD have happened because of Ms. Todd's actions are disturbing to the extreme -- the possibility of an innocent man getting arrested for a bogus crime, possible real acts of retaliaton for said bogus crime, the general issue of playing with the powder-keg of racial tension, and OK... that it could've caused (and was designed to cause) a shift in a very important election that affects all of us.

On the other hand, the story came apart fast enough that none of it actually did happen, leaving us with a confused messed-up kid clogging up the court system when she's probably not likely to be a repeat offender if she gets the help she needs. I'm not sure I favor full expungement -- throw a yellow Post-It in her file that mentions that she once made up a fictitous racial attack, juuuuuust in case she ever does something like it again -- but I suppose getting her some help and keeping her away from politics may be good enough.

[NJmikeV]

This woman obviously has problems. There will always be folks like her around campaigns.
I hope she gets the help that she needs.

Let's not pile on her. The real issue is the RNC jumping on this story like stink on sh**.

Their desire to exploit any racial angle, real or imagined, tells everyone who they really are.

[DMM1029]

One does not reach a deal with the police. One reaches a deal with prosecutors, which then must be approved by the court. Pittsburgh has one of the few mental health courts in Pa., and a model nation wide. This way the woman gets help and no criminal record. This is far better than burning her at the stake.
Forgive her. Love her. Isn't that what Obama is all about?

Dave McGlaughli­n--Harrisb­urg, Pa.

[igorz]

By all means, let's reintroduce THIS female Hinckley back into society! Does the term 'danger to herself or others' NOT mean anything in Pennsylvania?

[Academic]

I entirely agree with you whinger. More importantly, had a black woman done the same to derail the John McCain/Sarah Palin campaign would she have been allowed to cut a deal with the police in the same way? I think not. It just goes to show the level of hypocrisy there is in the United States where whites are concerned and how inequal minorities are under the US legal system. There are literally thousands of Blacks serving jail time for crimes they never committed, and had this woman Ashley been able to pull this off and some innocent black man had found himself banged up for a crime he didn't commit there would have been no sympathy shown towards him. So why is this woman being treated sympathetically when her deliberate purpose was to stir up racist hate and dishonestly cause Barack Obama's campaign to be tarnished by it? Then Americans wonder why the rest of the world has such a poor opinion of you.

Professor Dr Stanley Collymore
London, England.

[yankee452]

Is that really you Stan the Man?

[666IronMonkey666]

That would be Stan Lee-but Prof. Collymore is the man (not the lower-case 'm').

[Ms Esq]

Actually, given the historic facts, a NUMBER of innocent black men could have paid the price for her lie. There have been numerous instances where police "rounded up" hoardes of innocent black men, interrogated, harassed, and disrespected anyone they deemed to "fit the description", only to learn that the "description" was a lie.

Her lie was dangerous and she is a sick person. The people who are giving her so much sympathy are probably secretly afraid of the "big, scary, black man" themselves, and so they see their own secret biases hidden in her actions. They don't want to condem themselves, and so they can't condem her.

The treatment of this case is shameful. How can we simultaneously come together to support "CHANGE" but turn a blind eye to a tactic straight out of the Jim Crow playbook? I am sorry but it stinks of hypocrisy.

[terkid]

More proof positive that McCain supporters are whacked-out fringe losers
living on the edge of society-- and sanity.

[Whinger]

At the very least her false allegation should remain on her record for life, she could do it again!

Had some innocent man actully been falsly convicted he would spend time behind bars!
The sentence he would have got should have been hers!

[Republican Distortion]

This misinformed obese fraud is getting more air time than whack-job fundamentalist christian extremist Alan Keyes...I guess the world is flat after all!