Drudge Puts Dangerous Spin on Mugging, Implies Violence Targeting McCain Volunteers

Yesterday, a horrible incident took place in Pittsburgh: a young woman was robbed; and then, after the assailant noticed that her car had a McCain sticker, he returned to brutalize her, including scratching a backwards 'B' in her cheek with a knife. Although horrible by itself, what makes this story even more shocking is the way right-wing media has tried to twist the coverage with rhetoric suggesting that this ATM mugging was actually a pre-meditated act of political violence aimed at the McCain campaign.

At 4:03pm, today, a WTAE-TV Pittsburgh reported that a 20-year old woman was robbed at an ATM machine, and then subsequently had the letter 'B' scratched into her cheek with a knife--supposedly in response to her assailant seeing a 'McCain' campaign sticker on her car.   This is how WTAE reported the story:

Woman Attacked At ATM, Assailant Carves Letter Into Her Face

Woman Robbed, Attacked With Knife At Bloomfield ATM
POSTED: 4:03 pm EDT October 23, 2008
UPDATED: 4:30 pm EDT October 23, 2008

PITTSBURGH -- 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. (link)

The crime was horrendous. Anyone who mugs another person, whether it is for $0.60 or $60, is a criminal who deserves punishment.  And to beat someone up--and then scratch a 'B' in their face--supposedly in response to seeing a McCain campaign sticker on a person's car--that is an act that demands immediate criminal prosecution.  The young woman attacked deserves a speedy recovery and quick restitution of her property and dignity by the courts.

The problem with this crime, however, is not just that it happened, but the way that Matt Drudge has obviously tried to spin it into a political watershed for the 2008 Presidential campaign by rewriting the headline and carefully omitting several crucial elements.  The end result is that a mugging punctuated by an odd act of violence has been transformed at the hands of a right-wing media figure to appear like a targeted act of violence against the McCain campaign.

Not long after the original WTAE story, Drudge added the following incendiary headline on The Drudge Report:

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

'B' CARVED INTO 20-YEAR OLD WOMAN'S FACE... DEVELOPING...

Note two things that Drudge has strategically left out of this headline: (1) the actual details of the crime (e.g., an ATM robbery, followed by an assault) and (2) the fact that the robber brutalized the young woman after the initial crime had been completed, when the criminal noticed the bumber sticker on her car. The omissions are crucia because they repackage a story of theft and assault into a story of political violence. 

What Drudge has done, in other words, is reframe a report about a mugging to make it seem like the beginning of targeted political violence against the McCain campaign.  Hence, it seems from his headline that there are criminals in the U.S. currently out looking for McCain volunteers with the goal of brutally assaulting them--that someone was looking for McCain volunteers to attack, found one, and beat her.

Now, Matt Drudge's blog is one of the most visited websites on the internet and is well-known for its Republican Party leanings, it's deep connection to right-wing media outlets, and the phenomenal speed with which it can disseminate a story--whether that story is true or false.  It is important, therefore, to consider the grave danger carried Drudge's spinning of this story.

Given Drudge's choice of words, one could imagine the Drudge headline as the basis for right-wing media and the Republican base to conclude that political violence has begun against the McCain campaign--despite this being a false and misleading representation of the events.

Even worse, the immense site traffic at The Drudge Report enjoys, combined with Drudge's implication that this horrible mugging incident in Pittsburgh was in fact targeted political violence against Republicans, could result in widespread panic amongst by McCain supporters mislead by Drudge's manipulative reporting into thinking that they were the target of some kind of organized assault.

If either of those things were to happen, the Drudge headline of the WTAE story could quickly tip the the Presidential election into a dangerous place by heightening the 'us vs. them' tensions already set in motion by the McCain-Palin campaign rhetoric.

Finally, since Pennsylvania is a 'swing' stage--a state that is still too-close-to-call in the Presidential election polls--it is not beyond the realm of possibility that Drudge's deceptive re-framing of this mugging story could result in heightened tensions on the ground, and possibly contribute to outbursts of violence by people who believe they are under 'attack,' as a result of Drudge's rhetoric.

However Drudge's headline is interpreted, it has the potential to provide an excuse for actual political violence under the guise of self-defense.

Just to give an idea of how incendiary this story could become, since I began writing this post, the Obama-Biden campaign has already issued the following statement:

"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."

Their response shows the necessary and swift intolerance that any crime of this nature deserves.  Whether or not The Drudge Report will succeed with its dangerous ploy to recast this crime as the beginning of political violence against Republicans remains to be seen.   But at the very least, we can expect Drudge's spin to be the lead on every right-wing media outlet at least to the weekend. 

How mainstream media handles it is another story.  Will news producers at CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, and CBS refute Drudge's irresponsible flirtation with rhetoric that has the potential to spark widespread panic?   Let's hope so.

***UPDATE (Fri Oct 24, 1:48pm EST): Pittsburgh's CBS affiliate KDKA is just now reporting that the 20 year-old woman in question has recanted her story:

A Pittsburgh police commander says a volunteer for the McCain campaign who reported being robbed and attacked near a bank ATM in Bloomfield has confessed to making up the story. Police say charges will be filed. More details to follow.

I am relieved, in the end, that this young woman was not the victim of a robbery or assault. However, the false accusation of political violence--tinged with racial profiling--raises serious ethical and criminal consequences for this young person. Needless to say, the way right-wing media attempted to transform this story remains an object lesson for this election season and beyond. -- JF

©  2008 Jeffrey Feldman, Frameshop

Follow Jeffrey Feldman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JeffreyFeldman

Comments

[Pippilangstrumpf]

In Illinois, this past few weeks, a female, Muslim college student claimed she was the victim of a racially motivated attack.

She was proven to have lied about this. She also made three other claims of racially motivated violence that were all lies as well.

This one seems to have the hallmarks of lies too. This girl was not with it enough to carve the "B" on her cheek facing the right way. But then again...she's a McCain/Palin supporter and intelligence doesn't seem to be something that 'rears its head' too much in that population.

Just watch...this incident will be proven to be a hoax.

[bub26]

Whenever there's a so-called hate crime, and no independent witnesses other than the victim/s, then one must always question its authenticity. Faking hate crimes has been vogue since time in memorial. 9th: Thou shall not bear false witness

[DBtv]

Hoax from a republic party socio path.

[jetmags73]

I find this essay to be somewhat naive. The author seems to have gone along with the details in this young woman's account, and not questioned the obvious glaring weaknesses and suspect attributes of her story. Mr. Feldman's main concern involves how this was reported by right-wing websites and the Drudgereport.

Fair enough, but I for one don't believe a word of it. How does someone scratch a "B" into someone's face backward, and in what seems like normal script? We've seen this before: When I was a kid, Morton Downey Jr reported a similar bizarre story, and it turned out he did it to himself. This girl's Twitter account also has some unusual entries posted......I will def apologize on here if I am wrong, but it sound like bull to me.

[ENOS]

I just read on Faux News that police are now suspecious about the story because there are inconsistencies in her claim, and her polygraph results were inconsistant as well.

[kapo]

So this is the face of evil. Don't laugh. This sad and confused young woman knowingly performed an act of pure evil in order to achieve what she thought was a good end. In a different era this would have caused a racial pogrom. It could have changed an election outcome. Her thought processes were the same as those used by the Nazis when they too saw themselves batttling their antithesis. We can learn more from Ashley when we see ourselves in her than when we rail at her sin. The devil wears just such a face and we need to make sure that is not the face staring back when we look in the mirror.

[johnsopinion]

Oddly enough, the original report of the incident doesn't identify the woman as a
McCain volunteer much less as a McCain volunteer performing her duties as a
volunteer. Drudge has 'volunteered' that piece of information.
In the original report, her only connection to McCain is her bumper sticker.

And 'seeing' a bumper sticker as the CAUSE of the attackers 'turn around' is
presumptuous at best. It presumes to know what was going through the attackers
mind. What is the woman's first name--Betty? Bertha? Beyonce? Bonnie?

[WasteNJ]

Let's not be fools. No mugger is going to stick around and carve a political statement into somebody's face!
1. The "B" is backwards, because she scratched it into herself in the mirror.
2. Police doubt the report, and say it conflicts with the Bank's ATM security cam. They want her to take a polygraph.
3. She said the mugger used a dull knife to scratch a "B" into her face. If you were trying to scratch a letter onto a flailing, terrorized victim, wouldn't you have trouble forming a perfect letter? Wouldn't there be, oh I dunno, blood as a result if it were a knife of any type? Any why would the letter be backwards?

Please.

[ohioan73]

For real. How did he keep her head from lurching around and avoiding the knife while straddling her to keep her arms down with his knees and using the knife in the other hand? I suppose he could have used that hand that wasnt holding the knife, but then...that sounds just crazy as hell. Any mugger looking to fleece somebody of cash is not gonna do political campaigning "on the job".

[DBtv]

Total hoax of a self inflicted attention scam.

Drudge is, as usual, a cynical liar.

[Pinkmarbles]

Now please explain to my how Drudge is a liar. He just reported a story. He did not say if it was true or false, right or wrong. He just reported it. How in the world does that make Drudge a liar?

[ENOS]

crap.. this sucks, but muggings like this happen every day. I doubt it was purely political.

[DBtv]

Self inflicted.

[Xysea]

Why would he carve a backwards B? That wouldn't make any sense at all. And it would be difficult and more time consuming. Presumably he wasn't hanging around or taking his time after mugging her at an ATM?

It seems implausible. But then again Jonah Goldberg was taking suggestions that people make anonymous donations to Barack Obama's campaign as 'William Ayers' and others so that they could claim he's taking money from terrorists. These people will do anything, make anything up, lie, cheat, steal, sell their souls to win. It's humiliating as a citizen and damaging to democracy.

(source for Goldberg story? www.sadlyno.com)

[Pinkmarbles]

How about this scenario:
The black guy knocks her to the ground, kneels down with her head at his knees and her feet away from him and then carves the B in her face. It would appear backwards as it is. He would have been right handed and that is why her left eye is black. Then when she fell, he carved the B into her cheek as described above.

[LiberalHick]

Yeah, she used that same rationale when she concocted the fake story. Thanks for that one.

[chaifreak]

I'm afraid the victim's own description of how she was held down does not coincide with this explanation.

[AsianAfricanAMERICAN]

I find it strange that a mugger, satisfied with taking $60, while standing in front of an ATM machine would be so politically astute. I mean this has to be the dummest mugger alive to rob someone of $60, in front of a camera, and then not demand that she take more money out the machine. The guy had enough time to come back and carve a B in her face but not demand more money??? Really strange. I doubt any criminal this stupid would even know who John McCain or Barack Obama is, let alone become enranged because his victim is a McCain Supporter. Please.

[bobste]

you nailed it - now reporting she might've made this up...look at her myspace page.

[kothian1]

Pinkmarbles

The only problem there is that she's already stated that the attacker "straddled her chest and knelt on her hands".

[Grannienaples]

He needs to amend the story to include............
POLICE have administered lie detector exam to victim due to inconsistencies in her story
as well as the "B" being etched BACKWARDS as in doing it in a MIRROR...
sure DRUDGE will stay tuned

[kothian1]

Local update now has her claiming "sexual assault".

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/17789356/detail.html

[macrumpton]

This is ludicrous! Did I miss the part where the robber said vote for Obama (or rather vote for Barak) while carving the letter on her face? How did she know what he was writing? If he were white and had made a "J" would everyone think that was a political statement? I think it is just as likely that he was carving his initials or maybe "b*tch"

[Brian187]

Here's a quote from her "updated" and ever-evolving story...

Ms. Todd told police during at least five hours of questioning last night that her attacker said to her, "You are going to be a Barack supporter." She told police the man then sat on her chest, pinning both her hands down with his knees and used what she believed was a dull knife with a roughly 5-inch blade to carve the B.

I think this "attack" story is bunk for so many reasons.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08298/922489-470.stm