Update on Bgate

Breaking from KDKA in Pittsburgh: "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."

The Story:

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― Police sources tell KDKA that a campaign worker has now confessed to making up a story that a mugger attacked her and cut the letter "B" in her face after seeing her McCain bumper sticker.

Ashley Todd, 20, of Texas, initially told police that she was robbed at an ATM in Bloomfield and that the suspect became enraged and started beating her after seeing her GOP sticker on her car.

Police investigating the alleged attack, however, began to notice some inconsistencies in her story and administered a polygraph test.

Authorities, however, declined to release the results of that test.

Investigators did say that they received photos from the ATM machine and "the photographs were verified as not being the victim making the transaction."

This afternoon, a Pittsburgh police commander told KDKA Investigator Marty Griffin that Todd confessed to making up the story.

The commander added that Todd will face charges; but police have not commented on what those charges will be.

According to police, investigators working on the interview process detected several inconsistencies in Todd's story that differed from statements made in the original police report.

Pittsburgh Police Public Information Officer Diane Richard released a statement earlier today, saying: "Because of the inconsistencies in her statements, Ms. Todd was asked to submit to a polygraph examination which she agreed to do."

No photos of Todd are being released by Pittsburgh Police at this time.

The investigation is continuing as officials determine what charges will be filed.

The Girl Who Cried "B"

Okay so there is this story that I followed all night last night (after the Phillies) that is simply and utterly ridiculous. So this girl in Pittsburgh, Ashley Todd, is a 20-year-old McCain volunteer from Texas. She went to the police on Wednesday to report what she thinks is a politically motivated attack. Here is her story: according to her Twitter account, she was "stubbornly" driving around Pittsburgh looking for a Bank of America ATM where she could withdraw money and not be charged a fee. She twitters a little while later that she thinks she is on "the wrong side" of the city. She then claims that about 9pm, after withdrawing $60 from an ATM, a black man held her at knifepoint and took her $60. He then became enraged after seeing the McCain/Palin sticker on her car and proceeded to punch and kick her and carve a "B" into her cheek with his knife, supposedly for Barack Obama.

Wow. These are some hefty accusations. Let's take a look at the photo she took of herself after the incident and then use our CSI skills (I've been watching for several years now, that gives me at least a sophomore level of knowledge here, right?) and compile some questions we have about this story.

1. Okay, so my burning question here is this: Why would the B be carved backwards? It's almost as if someone carved it while looking in a mirror...
2. That black eye looks pretty dark, but it seems to be healing miraculously fast. No swelling? We can still see her orbital. And no broken blood vessels? I guess the real question should be, which brand eyeshadow did she use? I've been trying to create a smokey eye for special occasions for some time now, I can never find a dark enough shade.
3. This guy must have really been trained in etching. That B is like, perfectly cut out. And again, perfectly healed. No skin was broken? And he didn't even get any scratches on the rest of your face, even as you struggled.
4. So you are adept enough at using your phone to Twitter while driving, but you can't use that phone to say, call a Bank of America and locate an ATM in area with which you are familiar?
5. 9pm in the Bloomfield neighborhood. I'm pretty sure this Italian section of the city is full of restaurants and shops by this ATM. And no one saw this incident occur? And none of the bank branch cameras caught it either? Or the street corner cameras?
6. Walk me through the sticker thing again, too. So he mugged you, and then somehow knew which car was yours, saw the McCain sticker, didn't ask you about it, just got so angry in a few second flat that he hit you? How did you know it was the sticker that did it?

Okay, so apparently, I'm not the only one who has some questions about the incident. The Pittsburgh police, after receiving seemingly conflicting information from Ms. Todd, have decided to give her a polygraph test.

And look, I'm not one to make fun of someone who was attacked on the street and seriously hurt. But I am convinced that this girl is lying (and, actually, so is Michelle Malkin). And this would be a stupid hoax if it weren't such a blatant "race-baiting stunt" (Fox News's words, not even mine) in an already volatile political environment. McCain campaign workers could now be concerned that they are specifically being targeted. They may even act out in what they consider self-defense to threats that aren't really there. Or some other crazy may act out in retaliation on an Obama worker. These are dangerous consequences I doubt Ms. Todd thought about before she decided to make herself an October surprise and a Republican hero.

I should probably also stress that I do not think the McCain campaign had anything to do with it. Both campaigns have responded responsibly to the story. I think this girl just acted on her own.

Ashley, your constitutional debating skills may have gotten you out of a traffic ticket. Let's see you use them in your upcoming obstruction of justice case.