By Mia Ortiz
Usually a mugger just wants cash, but last week the intensity of the American Presidential election pushed one mugger to send his victim a political message with a blunt knife. Or so she claimed.
Twenty-year-old Ashley Todd filed a police report Oct. 22, two hours after the encounter with her assailant. The Caucasian female reported that, while at an ATM machine, a six-foot-four African-American man held her at knifepoint from behind and demanded cash. Todd obliged and gave him $60. However, upon leaving, the man caught sight of the rear-end of Todd’s parked car and returned, informing her that he “was going to teach her a lesson [for her support of McCain]” and that she was going to become a supporter of Obama. The man then punched Todd in the back of the head, knocked her unconscious and used a knife to cut a backwards ‘B’ on her cheek. When Todd regained consciousness, the man was gone. Todd immediately travelled to a friend’s house and contacted the police. The incident was recorded by police the following Thursday. By Friday morning, after further investigation, discrepancies were found within the report and Todd was questioned by the authorities. After a discussion at length pertaining to the happenings on Wednesday night, Todd confessed that the mugging was fictional and that she “believes” she was the one who drew the ‘B’ on her cheek. Todd has no memory of etching the letter onto herself, but has had a medical history of mental issues. She is currently on trial for charges of false-report, from which she is liable to receive psychiatric treatment and counselling.
Todd’s police report, which was released Oct. 23, unleashed a fresh wave of right-wing condemnation upon Obama: not a day past the fourth of November and the onset of the “Obama Thugocracy” is ostensibly upon us. The media was overwhelmed by Todd sympathizers, all too ready to strip Obama of his political momentum. Even now, it’s hard to accept that such an unlikely story with evident oddities and lapses of reason could be believed by the public. Don’t most thieves of the above sort just take the money and run? Clearly, one would have had taken the Todd story with more than just one grain of salt if one were not bent on Obama’s demise. Furthermore, a few credible blogs and articles in support of the Republicans have sought to justify the outbursts of “Kill him,” (in regards to Obama) during a Sarah Palin demonstration by referencing Todd in comparison. All things considered, even in a laissez-faire, capitalist America, a mugging– and a fictional one at that– is hardly comparable to a racist death threat. The 2008 American election campaign has gone on long enough; all Americans can really do now is vote. And hopefully destroy every piece of interview footage of Palin and Katie Couric.