Anti-McCain attack

katiemac

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I share your skepticism. For one thing, the edges of the "B" are astonishingly precise in the photo. Also backwards, as one would expect if done using a mirror. (I'm not enough of a photographer to know if just taking the picture reverses it.)

It's backwards, but it's easy to flip a photo in any image program these days. I can think of a number of reasons by it would be backwards without her having done it to herself, including the fact she could have been on the ground, the attacker at a different angle.

I found another link that says she indeed was taken to the hospital. The attack happened last night while she was at the ATM, so not earlier today.

ETA: Here's another one:

Says she denied medical treatment at the scene. It also looks like she was on the ground, and he was behind her, hence the backward "B."

Pittsburgh Police are investigating a report by a campaign staffer for John McCain that she was mugged and the letter B was cut into her face following a robbery in Bloomfield last night.

Police say the 20-year-old woman, who is from Texas, reported that the attack occurred after she withdrew money from an ATM at Liberty Avenue and Pearl Street.

She said a man armed with a knife demanded her money. She gave it to him and began walking toward her car, which has McCain stickers.

Although the robber had moved away from her, he became agitated when he saw her car, punched her in the back of the head, pushed her to the ground and carved a B into her face, she reported.

Police said the woman declined medical treatment at the scene.
 
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icerose

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I wonder, if this had no political slant, if people would suspect this poor woman of lying.

B for Bigot? (Sorry ageless, this was just in response to an upthread question of what the B could stand for. I didn't even think anyone would see it as a person attack. Serves me right for posting when I can't think clearly.)

And yes. I am rather skeptical about stories like this and it has nothing to do with political BS. From the picture, unless the attacker is dyslexic, she did it to herself. If he were angry, it'd be rough, deep, uneven from her moving and so forth.
 
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ricetalks

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I share your skepticism. For one thing, the edges of the "B" are astonishingly precise in the photo. Also backwards, as one would expect if done using a mirror. (I'm not enough of a photographer to know if just taking the picture reverses it.)

No. The photograph's point of view would be the same as the person whop was carving the B.
 

Plot Device

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There's a few things about the story that don't quite sound right to me.

The robber stole money from the lady, which is believable and common, but then became angry after seeing a McCain sticker on her car, and beat her up, kicked her and carved a "B" in her face.

What time of day was this happening? Were there witnesses to the attack? How long does it take to carve a "B" in someone's face with a knife? If he had a knife, I'm happy he didn't use when he was kicking and punching her, but surprised he didn't use it to stab her. What was the victim doing during this time, especially when the man was carving a letter into her face? I can assure you I would be screaming, kicking, biting, spitting, and probably pissing my pants..........and anything else it took to keep him from carving a letter into my face. An "I" would be easy to carve, and maybe an "L" but a "B" would be rather difficult to maneuver while someone was fighting back and squirming around.

Then refusing medical treatment is just ridiculous. Unheard of insanity.

And of course the attacker was black.

Kind of reminds me of that horrible "mom" who drove her kids into a lake and watched them drown and then said a "black man carjacked her and killed her kids."

Not saying the story couldn't be true, but the whole bumper sticker, carving her face, refusing medical treatment, not getting caught on camera stuff raises many questions for me.

Exactly. All my yellow lights are flashing over this one.

I am prompted to think of two famous cases in the annals of criminology that get taught in college criminology classrooms as literal (literal!) textbook examples of screwy stories told by lying-through-their-teeth witnesses.

1) The MacDonald Family Murders (late 1960's/early 1970's). This was the tale of the alleged "drug-crazed hippes" who, in the middle of the night, broke into the suburban house of a young, cleancut Texas doctor and his wife and their two VERY young kids. The hippies were chanting "Acid is groovy!" and "Kill all pigs!" and they murdered the wife and two children. But somehow the doctor survived to tell the tale, left with just superficial wounds.

At first everyone believed the guy. And the whole nation was shocked at the horror of hippies breaking in and killing people in such senselessness. But then it just didn't add up after a while. a) Why were the wounds on the other family members so deep and so thoroughly mortal, yet the doctor's wounds so minor? Would not those "drug-crazed hippies" have been smart enough to inflicted GREATER wounds upon the one member of the household who was probably strong enough to put up a REAL fight? b) And what's with this "acid is groovy" nonsense? No REAL hippie ever actually says "acid is groovy" and certainly wouldn't ever chant it over and over again. Although maybe some naive middle-class doctor might THINK that such is exactly what a hippie might say. And we're all writers here, so "bad dialogue" written by a total amateur is something most of us can spot very easily.

2) Another case whose name I do not have at my fingertips. I think it was in Boston in the early 1980's. A doctor and his wife were out for the evening n the city. And they returned to their street-parked car (a BMW or Mercedes, something very expensive) and as they got into the car, they were pounced upon by a robber. The robber demanded they hand over their valuables. But then when the robber saw the doctor's car phone (car phones were still rare in that era, and tended to be large, cumbersome monstrosities) the crook exclaimed out loud: "An off-duty cop!" and in a panic he shot them both. The wife died. The doctor suffered only minor wounds and lived to tell the tale.

But then the story just didn't add up. Why would a crook say right out loud: "Oh my god! You're an off-duty cop!" That was just dumb! And so once again think we had a case of very bad dialogue here written by a total amateur.






As for the story on the OP and this woman's claim that as soon as this guy saw the bumper it prompted him to suddenly shift gears in his criminal activity and go from a mere robbery to an ELABORATE assault, my response to that is ... oh really?




.
 
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katiemac

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Yet another article that supports she was indeed attacked from behind.

Pittsburgh police spokeswoman Diane Richards says the woman was withdrawing money at 9 p.m. Wednesday when a man approached her from behind, put a knife to her neck and demanded money. She says she gave him $60.
The woman told police the robber then noticed the bumper sticker, punched her in the back of the head, knocked her down and carved a ‘‘B’’ on her face.

No article has mentioned security cameras.
 

Ageless Stranger

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B for Bigot?

And yes. I am rather skeptical about stories like this and it has nothing to do with political BS. From the picture, unless the attacker is dyslexic, she did it to herself. If he were angry, it'd be rough, deep, uneven from her moving and so forth.


Since you quoted me, I'll guess you're referring to me with this? If so, nice.

He attacked her from behind, so that explains the backward B. Unless she was terrified and seized up. I've seen it happen to people before. It'd actually be quite easy to cut someone's face. Hell, if they had a knife to you, and you were an easily cowed person (which I suspect many would be after being punched and kicked to the ground) you probably wouldn't be too able to stop someone from attacking you. There'd be a fear that they'd do something much worse with the knife. I'd need to see an actual description of the attack itself, what happened, before I could make any conclusion, especially a negative one.
 
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maestrowork

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Yet another article that supports she was indeed attacked from behind.



No article has mentioned security cameras.

I'd be interested in hearing more from the Pittsburgh local news. To me, the "B" is too neatly carved to be done from behind, with a knife. Then again, I'm not an expert on carving letters on people's faces...
 

katiemac

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I'd be interested in hearing more from the Pittsburgh local news. To me, the "B" is too neatly carved to be done from behind, with a knife.

It says she was attacked from behind, but was knocked to the ground when he was actually cutting her. So the attacker would have been facing her, just behind her head.

So really, the "B" isn't backwards, it's upside down.
 
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Monkey

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This is terrible, no matter what, and I hope the police don't hesitate to believe her.

The lines of that "B" are very, very thin. This wasn't skin-ripping, bloody cutting; this was a sharp edge pressed against the skin and slid in the shape of a B just hard enough to leave a mark. That's much easier to do smoothly, much faster, and much less painful.

This could lend credence to either story: an angered assailant could do it quickly and not see it as as violent, or the victim could have done it to themselves without undue pain or scarring.

When in doubt, I believe the victim. The police seem to be doing their job and listening to the victim, which is good.

Then again, it bothers me that she was out of her car at the ATM when this happened (I would have stayed in my car or close to it), and it wasn't caught by the cameras, and she was attacked from behind - which would send you down on your stomach - but the B was carved into her face. As an assailant, it's easier to pin someone on their stomach and carve their back than to knock them onto their stomach, roll them over, and pin them now that they can reach you while you carve their face. It also bothers me that she didn't call the police ASAP, but instead brought a friend to the scene of the crime and THEN called. And as a McCain campaign volunteer, she has more reason than most to want to villianize Obama supporters.

So there IS that hint of doubt. But I only feel free to address it because I'm not working her case or talking to her directly. I want her to feel believed and her case to be properly investigated, even if something doesn't quite smell right.
 
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tiny

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Just a thought about what one might or might not do during an attack, what you would do and what someone else would do are totally different. I am very aggressive and pretty damned trained, I would fight back (I hope). But, faced with a knife, some people freeze.

Faced with a threat of death for fighting or a cut across the face for freezing, who would choose death? And yes, once a weapon is brought into a crime, the threat is death.
 

WendyNYC

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As an assailant, it's easier to pin someone on their stomach and carve their back than to knock them onto their stomach, roll them over, and pin them now that they can reach you while you carve their face.

If the point it so humiliate, then it would make sense to cut the face.

ETA: I'm inclined to believe her, until there is a reason not to.
 
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Don

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Agorism FTW!
Also backwards, as one would expect if done using a mirror.

it's a mirror image!

It's backwards
It also looks like she was on the ground, and he was behind her, hence the backward "B."

unless the attacker is dyslexic, she did it to herself.

He attacked her from behind, so that explains the backward B.

So really, the "B" isn't backwards, it's upside down.

The B is backwards. o_O
Keep up, Bart! :ROFL:
 

maestrowork

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Like I said, it's sick and sad either way. I'd believe the victim now unless there's evidence that says otherwise.
 

Plot Device

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Even Michelle Malkin has big doubts


Gotta love the reply to that blog by a cop:

“I’m a cop - 8th year now - and this McCain supporter attack just didn’t pass the “smell test” as soon as I read about it.

At this point, I’ll guess the shiner was inflicted either by a friend willingly as part of this hoax or a boyfriend in a domestic dispute.

The “B” is far to shallow and clean to be taken seriously. Reminds me of the stab wounds that a “hero” would get when fighting off a phantom attacker - far to superficial to have been done in what is a fairly violent encounter.

Either way, I’m voting McCain
icon_wink.gif
 

Plot Device

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Here's where I am having a HUGE problem with all of this ...



From what the report says, he mugged her, merely interested in her cash.

But THEN, after he was done wiuth the cash, and as she made her way back to her car, he (allegedly) noticed that her car had McCain bumper stickers. And this (allegedly) prompted him to assault her.



What I want to know is ... how did SHE "know" that it was her McCain bumper stickers that incited him to double back and commit this second (and totally separate crime) of an assault? Did he SAY to her: "Oh, so you're a McCain suporter, eh?"

All of this sounds way too much to me like "Acid is groovy!" and "Oh my god! An off-duty cop!" [SEE MY POST #31 ABOVE]
 

Plot Device

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Another thing I want to point out: petty criminals usually operate in states of fear and cowardice, especially when operating alone. Crminals who operate in teams or gangs usually have more bravado to them, but the lone perpetrators are usually terrified underneath their fascades of brazenness.

They want to get in and get out and not get caught.

He successfully committed an entire mugging, and it was then time to get heck out of there. I am VERY hesitant to believe he delayed his timely exit to tack on the additional and risky and time-consuming task of an impromptu and even elaborate assault.
 

AncientEagle

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A minor side issue, but the MacDonald murders that Plot Device mentioned took place not in a suburban home but in family quarters on post at Fort Bragg, NC. MacDonald was an Army surgeon with Special Forces at Fort Bragg.
 

Plot Device

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A minor side issue, but the MacDonald murders that Plot Device mentioned took place not in a suburban home but in family quarters on post at Fort Bragg, NC. MacDonald was an Army surgeon with Special Forces at Fort Bragg.

Sorry, my bad.

The way I originally worded the post was to label it as a "rural house" in Texas. But then I was thinking it would make them sound like farmers, so I changed it to "suburban." I recalled the guy was in the military, but didn't know the house was actual military quarters.

And I really thought it was Texas too. NC? Okay--lemmie check it and change it.