Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for October 24, 2008 MY "SNIFFER"...VINDICATED

Well, at least the police got to the bottom of "the crime" before the McCain-Palin campaign spent millions on racial ads.

On second thought, they probabaly ALREADY have the ads "in the can"...if not aired yet.

On third thought, who says they won't STILL find a way to use this story! I'm sure the Obama campaign paid the lady off...or sent some big black man to threaten her or her family...

Police: McCain volunteer made up robbery story

PITTSBURGH - A John McCain campaign volunteer admitted Friday she made up a story of being robbed, pinned to the ground and having the letter "B" scratched on her face by a black man in a politically inspired attack, police said.

On her third day of questioning, Ashley Todd, a 20-year-old college student from College Station, Texas, "just opened up and said she wanted to tell the truth," said Maurita Bryant, assistant chief of the police investigations division.

Todd could provide no explanation for why she invented the story, police said. The woman told investigators she believes she cut the "B" onto her own cheek, but did not provide an explanation of how or why.

Police said the woman reported suffering from "mental problems" in the past, and that they do not believe anyone put her up to the act.

Dressed in an orange hooded sweatshirt, Todd left police headquarters in handcuffs late Friday on her way to court, where police said she was to be charged with making a false report to police.

She did not respond to questions shouted to her by reporters.

Authorities hoped to have her jailed and undergo psychiatric evaluation, said police Lt. Kevin Kraus. If she is not ordered held, he said authorities would seek to have her involuntarily committed to a psychiatric institution.

Todd, who is white, told police she was attacked Wednesday night by a tall dark-skinned black man wearing patent leather shoes.

Race has been a sensitive issue in the campaign, as Democrat Barack Obama would be the first black U.S. president if he wins the Nov. 4 election.

Police said they doubted her story from the start - in part because the "B" on her face was backward.

"We have robbers here in Pittsburgh, but they don't generally mutilate someone's face like that," Bryant said. "They just take the money and run."

Todd initially told investigators she was attempting to use a bank branch ATM when the 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 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.

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 with a dull knife.

Todd told police she didn't seek medical attention, but instead went to a friend's apartment nearby and called police about 45 minutes later.

The Associated Press could not immediately locate Todd's family.

Todd worked in New York for the College Republican National Committee before moving two weeks ago to Pennsylvania, where her duties included recruiting college students, the committee's executive director, Ethan Eilon, has said.

Eilon declined to comment on the investigation Friday or to help The Associated Press contact Todd.

Police disclosed Friday morning that they had found inconsistencies in Todd's story and given her a lie-detector test. Investigators also said bank surveillance photos did not back up the woman's initial story.

Police interviewed Todd after she contacted police Wednesday night and again on Thursday. They asked her to come back Friday, ostensibly to help police put together a sketch of the man. Instead, detectives began interviewing her, and she confessed, police said.

"We had some serious cases going on, and this wasted so much time," Bryant said. "Our detectives have been working through the night just to verify the information we suspected was false from the beginning."