Update: False claim by anti-illegal immigration student
Very, very stupid. The girl who claimed she was attacked for her anti-illegal immigration homework apparently fabricated the entire attack:
Athens Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Fred Hayes will hold a press conference at 2:45 p.m. today to address a recent incident involving an alleged attack on a student.Hayes said the school is nearing the end of the investigation and said one student will face charges stemming from the case. When asked if the young woman’s claim she was attacked by a large group of students could be substantiated, Hayes said the information will come out in the press conference, but that the student charged will be charged with “false claim.”
More from KLTV:
13 year old Melanie Bowers is having charges filed against her by Athens ISD today through the Henderson County District Attorney’s office for filing a false report, said Athens ISD officials today.
Bowers had claimed that she was beaten and threatened by a group of students at Athens ISD last Friday for creating a protest sign saying, “If you love our nation, stop illegal immigration.”
After the incident, administrators reviewed videotapes of the incident - which instead of showing students beating her, instead showed Bowers scratching herself on her arm. Some students reportedly threw her project into the trash, but no physical attacks or threats were substantiated.
Bowers’ parents have reportedly apologized to school administrators for their daughter and Bowers’ father is agreeing with the charges against her.
KLTV 7 News will have a video exclusive of the tape from Athens ISD tonight on KLTV 7 News at 5:00, 6:00, and 10:00 pm.
Most hate crimes hoaxes on campus have been committed by lefties, but there are publicity hounds on all parts of the political spectrum.
And they all reek.
***
Commenter PBoilermaker: “Unfortunately, this type of false claim will, as usual, get far more MSM coverage and gloating condemnation than any of the same from the other side of the ideological spectrum.”
Ain’t it the truth.
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Trackbacks
- East Texas Teenager Attacked Over History Project - Page 2 - Political Wrinkles
- UPDATE: 13 Year Old Made Up Assault Story:
- A Field Guide to American Politics on Blog Talk Radio - April 10, 2008
- Attack reported by Student was a Hoax « The Christian Nationalist
- Michelle Malkin Would Be So Proud | Comments from Left Field
- PoliGazette » Student Fakes Attack
- Michelle Malkin » Why that McCain volunteer’s “mutilation” story smells awfully weird
- I Agree With Michelle Malkin. (Yes, You Read That Right.) | Comments from Left Field
- Skepticism on the Right Regarding the McCain Volunteer Attack | ChooseTheHero.com
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Unfortunately, this type of false claim will, as usual, get far more MSM coverage and gloating condemnation than any of the same from the other side of the ideological spectrum.
She’s only 13, but it’s a very foolish thing to do. I hope she gets appropriate punishment.
Absolutely stupid and inexcusable. As PBoilermaker says, however, this will get much more attention than anything the other side would do.
Michelle,
I applaud you for posting this follow-up.
I think a few apologies might be in order from some of the commentors in your previous post.
Foolish is an understatement. There are PLENTY of real, factual travesties happening every day to support border enforcement. We don’t need fabricated incidents, they just obscure the truth.
I appreciate this correction, but there have been many posts that I thought were getting upset about very little, or very little what was unconfirmed, or very little that was unlikely to be true.
Maybe this will help people wait for more information before getting angry.
I am disgusted with this behavior as much as if there had actually had been a reprisal against the young lady. So sad to think that anyone believes that lying and deceit creates a convincing argument for or against a position.
Of course, one only has to look at the fine examples MoveOn, Media Matters, Code Pink, Iraq Veterans Against the War, La Raza, and others have set for the impressionable young people in this country in order to understand why this continues to be a problem.
Coming from you, that’s funny.
So, I guess the MSM position will be to release the surveillance tapes if they discredit a right of center issue. But, if the tapes discredit a left of center issue, like, say nooses on a doorknob at Columbia, then its ok to suppress…
She got herself in the news, a few minutes of fame, and on camera. Now the bill has to be paid. This is a very foolish girl who will pay the bill for quite a while. There’s a lot of people who love to be on camera and feel important. Some will fake stories for it, on both sides.
What, exactly, do they need to apologize for? Just because in this instance the girl lied doesn’t mean that Latino gangs and chaos/anarchy in other public school systems doesn’t exist.
You know what, TOS, when you and some of the other “blog visitors” like Rusty and LGM apologize for some of the absolutely attrocious, ignorant, and obnoxious statements that you’ve made in the past, then we’ll talk. As I see it, blog commentors took this girl at her word. That’s not their fault, that’s hers.
Oh, and before you say I’m apologizing for this girl’s behavior, I’m not. Perhaps, you need to look at the “absolutely” obnoxious comment you made on the Absolut thread. You really are one to talk.
I guess stupidity isn’t limited to one side or the other. When I first read the story this morning and read about how she claimed her head was slammed into a wall and they threatened to rape and/or kill her and how the school administration just sent her back to class, I thought, “Why didn’t she just call the police? That’s odd.” Now I guess we know why.
It just goes to show when potentially inflamatory reports like this come out, there’s a fine line between spreading the word about an event and getting caught up in a hoax.
Yes, we should avoid referencing the Huffington Post/Daily Kos commenting handbook on that topic.
Have you ever taught in a public education setting, lgm? Such incidents are common. I’ve even seen them. Even though this was a hoax, such an event should be thoroughly investigated and taken seriously.
Your post-mortem analysis is quite interesting given your penchant for redirection. Tell me…. have you ever walked a day in either a public school teacher’s or student’s shoes? There is a reason why there are metal detectors. Then again, your kids go to private school, right?
I almost posted this story yesterday but *something* didn’t seem quite right for me.
Couldn’t put my finger on it exactly but apparently my intuitions were correct.
Maybe she just “MISSPOKE” like Hillary did.
Throw the book at her.
It’s unfortunate that she felt that she needed to go to that length to make a very valid point. I feel sorry for her family for having to go through this.
Let’s give the parents a hand for not standing by their daughter when presented with the evidence. This girl might turn out alright after all.
The difference between a Left and Right Father right there.
!Salute! Dad!
Kudos to the poster in the original thread (a teacher in the school district where this occurred?) who suspected that this story didn’t pass the smell test. Let the facts (once they’re all in) lead you to logical conclusions, not the other way around.
emjem, I’ll give you this: your reactions are consistent and predictable.
Why?
‘Nuff said.
One thing to note is she is 13, whereas the hoaxsters [is that a word?] from the left are usually older, college aged or more.
I don’t see the problem - she’s just using the standard tactic of the left!
/sarc
Was there sniper fire?
She will learn from the experience, and since her father is “agreeing with the charges” it seems that she will learn her lesson well.
Kudos to her Dad on this one, if he follows through with something appropriate.
Was it an April fools joke? Didn’t this happen the same day Mrs. Malkin proclaimed to be a sexpert?
Who can possibly say why is in the head of a 13 year old girl? What I would like to know is why KLTV pulled a Dan Rather?
The difference here is that even her staunchest supporters, her OWN PARENTS, did the RIGHT thing in making sure such behavior was punished.
They did NOT continue to PRAISE her for “raising awareness about a serious issue” which is most always the fall back excuse of exposed hate-crime hoaxes.
“Fake but accurate” is an excuse for Dan Rather, not for us.
Hey Otherside, you won’t be getting one from me. This type of story does happen and more often with fake “hate crimes”, you might want to check out the noose story at Columbia. So, before you cast aspersions, look at your own otherside of the aisle which tends to parlay this kind of story, true or not into attacks on the Republicans.
At 13 she’ll be learning her lesson a long time. Her reputation and popularity will be trashed through high school.
Maybe she can look forward to going to college a long, long way away where she’ll finally have a chance for a fresh start.
Stupid, stupid!
Why do people make these things up? All it does is cast suspicion on people who are legitimate victims of racism, rape and other hate crimes.
This actually makes more sense. When I first heard of the attack, I had a feeling it was either being blown out of proportion or it was being fabricated. Athens is only an hour’s drive from here (Tyler) and liberalism isn’t as bold here as it is elsewhere. Don’t get me wrong, it’s out there. But the glorious conservatism that shines around this part of Texas, forces the lefties to flee toward the south and congregate around Austin.
…and Houston.
A fine point the MSM will overlook. Thanks for the update Michelle.
Why don’t you and lgm decide who goes first?
It sure hasn’t seemed to hurt the reputations of the liberals who have gotten a free pass on false alegations all these years.
Very sad.
This will get blown up ten times worse in the other direction now.
Neither party in this has an excuse.
Thanks for the correction Michelle. I guess she never got the lesson from those pesky 10 Commandments that most of US law has evolved from you know “thou shall not bare false witness” or what the law books call perjury. I hope this young lady gets lined out real good for this one.
The good news is I hear the Hillary campaign wants to hire her!
J/K…nothing surprises me anymore about what happens in public schools or the incompetence of many in the public school system. But I think it is also a valuable reminder not to leap to conclusions even when red meat is tossed before us ;).
But alas, you are right. I’m sure the Fairness Doctrine would allieviate the silence that is heard when a liberal does the same thing.
Regarding this getting more attention than other hate crime hoaxes, I don’t know if that’s the case. To be honest, I rarely see them get a lot of play (excepting this website).
The only hoax I know of that got a ton of attention was the GW swastikas hoax. And for me that was local.
In this case, it’s still unacceptable for a person making a criminal accusation to not be allowed to call her parents. I hope they change that policy.
I remember Susan Smith (from SC). They are few and far between, fortunately. The FBI statistics show a 2-25% false rape charge rate. Even the three were bad enough, though. Glad they were suspended.
If someone had threatened to rape you or a 13-year-old you knew, you wouldn’t be so calm. Or maybe you’re one of those liberals who hates yourself so much that you couldn’t care either way.
This REALLY hurts. Very good ammo for the open borders crowd. Despite the large number of people who want border security and no amnesty, the media is likely to play this up as a very common occurance and along with their leftist comrades it will be played up. We have a tough enough time already and this does not help one whit.
Rusty,
What about the Jenna 6 case? What about the Columbia noose case? The Jenna case got a whole lot of attention.
Mr. Allem… hello neighbor. I don’t live there any more, but I’ve still got family in Nacogdoches.
Jim C
Turns out that when 13 year old Melanie Bowers claimed to be getting attacked she was actually at an airport. Under sniper fire. Being hustled into a car.
Maybe we should all wait one day after reports to comment….you never know. I am saddened.
I kind of figured her story was BS because a lot of Hispanics here in Texas do not care for Illegal Aliens.
There were no hoaxes in the Jena Six case so it’s apple and oranges, no?
No hurt. If someone mentions this to you in a debate, casually tell them it’s pretty sad that their argument hinges on a teenage girl.
Kudos to Mrs. Malkin for adding the update about the hoax!
Here’s what I said yesterday on the original thread:
On a another note, I understand the problems so many have with public schools - no child of mine would attend any public school in Austin, for example. But for the most part, Texas bears the red-state label for good reason.
For example, my department rejected a new curriculum because of its liberal slant. One teacher in the department attended the Bush school at Texas A&M. Another has a son who has just reenlisted in the military. Every teacher but one regularly attends a Christian church.
I’m no Kool-Aid drinker, and of course problems exist. But if all conservative teachers walk away from public schools, of course a liberal agenda will exist. I choose to embrace the Serenity Prayer and do the best I can for every child I have.
Speaking of Jena…
There’s a serious, serious revival going on in the town. You can read about it here:
http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=27777
It’s a truly lovely story, whether you’re a person of faith or not.
At one of the services, a black man stood and stated that something he never though possible had finally happened:
He was welcome at the First Baptist Church.
An FBC member stood and said he was sorry that he hadn’t been welcome, and that those days had come to an end.
And in a shocking side note, one of the men in the story, Craig Franklin, is associate editor of the local paper. He’s contacted all the major news outlets about the reconciliation going on, and not one of them has come to do a follow-up story.
Silly, silly, girl. If only her made up story about attacks and threatened rape and such had focused on rich white lacrosse players. It might have garnered her the support of the entire Duke faculty — even once the facts came to light.
As it is, she’ll be living with the fall out of this behavior for a long time. Kudos to Dad.
#50-I fought the good fight as long as I could. When my daughter was born 5 years ago with Down Syndrome, I just couldn’t deal with teaching and her health & other problems.
I guess I was lucky in the sense that when I went to University of South Florida in Tampa, they were pretty moderate as far as politics go. However, grad school at William & Mary was another problem but I took a Masters in History from them. My MS Ed is from Old Dominion and luckily I had a great foundation from USF, because it was an absolute cake walk for me.
Keep up the good fight, it can be a very lonely place when you’re the only conservative on the Social Studies staff.
For the trolls that complained that conservatives rushed to judgement–reread some of the posts and you will find that our defense of the young lady was when the school refused to let her call her parents when she reported the threat of rape and assualt.
Its going to be harder on her than it ever was for Crystal Mangum, the “Group of 88″, the Jena 6 and the great reverands. I agree kudos to her father and he is to be commended.
Now what about those nooses at Columbia, the Baltimore Fire Department, and the US Coast Guard Academy? (the sound of crickets chirping)
GSP
If only she had perpetrated this hoax to advocate for some point on the left. Instead of her just punishment, she’d be getting a scholarship to a journalism school.
Michelle, I saw you on Fox and Friends this 4/10 early a.m. You looked great as usual and really hit it out of the park regarding the McSame Condo dream ticket. Your comment on illegal immigration 101 being a school subject is as interesting as the Bowers story itself. Fox is using the Bowers story as one of the few it will report on today. With all the blaw blaw heads Fox pawns off as experts they are so lucky to have Rove and you as commentators (Laura Ingraham is another or the good ones).
The poster assignment was still a pointless exercise and was no doubt given by a lazy, activist teacher who’d rather incite controversy among his/her students, rather than provide them valid instruction.
When did “facts” or “logical conclusions” ever lead you to pause to conduct a “smell test” over some of the idiotic and ignorant things that are said about conservative issues by liberals and certain “blog visitors?”
You know what, dakine, when you spend some time teaching in a public school setting and seen some of the behavior I’ve seen committed by both adults and teenagers, then I’ll put your comment in the “I could care less” file. Until then, I see you can’t understand the criticism of the current environment that exists within public school districts.
Let me revise that: I still could care less about your opinion given that a)you’ve never been a teacher and b)don’t seem to understand how many parents (of different political persuasions) are fed up with public schools.
emjem, my point really wasn’t about the current environment in public schools. It related more to the tendency for bloggers (and posters) to jump all over stories which fit a particular narrative they are attempting to advance before all the facts are in. I was also commenting on your habit of attacking Rusty, lgm or any other poster who disagrees with the “consensus opinion” in a particular thread. “Blog visitors”? So now you decide who the real “members” of this blog community are? Congrats.
BTW, you know what they say about making assumptions, right? I have taught in public schools, and I also have 4 kids who’ve attended public and private schools in two different states. There are some great public schools and some very bad ones. There are also some great public school teachers and some absolutely horrible ones. Your tendency of making broad, sweeping generalizations about topics such as this one greatly reduces the credibility of the point you are trying to make.
That’s a good guess based on the information I shared, but I don’t teach there. I’m familiar with the district because my college roommate graduated from Athens High School.
dakine said:
You seem to jump all over other bloggers here yourself, dakine, so pardon me if I’m a little “skeptical” of your observations.
Your championing of folks like Rusty and lgm speaks more of who you really are than it does of me. If you think I attack Rusty and lgm then you really haven’t been paying attention. I think sarcasm and pointing out shallow arguments by the liberal blog brigade speaks volumes.
As to your assertion that I seem to determine who and who is not a member of this blog, perhaps, you should have tuned into some of Rusty’s comments over the past week or so. He doesn’t consider himself a member anymore than does lgm. If you want to give partisan pinatas cover, that’s your crusade not mine.
Weren’t you the one who said that you were, at one time, a practicing lawyer? Have you suddenly changed careers? Now did you change from being a teacher to a lawyer or a lawyer to a teacher?
I tend to know a lot about public education since I taught in them for 5 years. I’ve taught in NY, AL, and CO in both urban and suburban school settings. What I saw did not impress me. All the schools (both taxpayer and non-taxpayer supported) were falling apart. I also noticed that the schools were out of control, that teachers taught to tests (which I still do not support) rather than the actual subject, that teachers ran on the liberal side and tended not to welcome folks like me (a conservative military spouse), and that there were no behavioral boundaries for children. I have both a BA in History and a Masters in Social Studies Education, so let’s cut the bull about my generalizing on this subject.
Speaking about generalizations, not everybody like you has positive teaching experiences. If you don’t share the same uniform opinion as both the teachers and administrators you work with, it gets old fast. When you have children make racist comments about you because you’re white and they’re not, that is not a positive teaching moment.
I really don’t know where you get off. I love my subject and I even loved teaching for a while, but I just got sick and tired of being treated like crap because I didn’t buy the liberal, NEA, teacher’s union dogma about education hook, line, and sinker. While I had many enlightening and joyful teaching moments with kids who had fun in my classes learning about history (and about life) I also had many kids already spoiled by irresponsible adults who then felt I should be their punching bag or person to heap abuse on.
You tell me, dakine, am I still generalizing? For every public school you think is successful, there are quite a bit more that are not. On the whole, there is more concentration on meaningless b.s. than on actual knowledge and preparing kids for life. I should know…curriculum specialists continue to tinker with Social Studies curriculums that will appeal more toward test scores, pc apologies, and not American citizenship preparation.
I’m sorry, but you’re the assumption king…
From the Dan Rather Playbook
Dakine:
Just because the story is a hoax shouldn’t take away the SERIOUSNESS of the crime..
Before you closed minded bigots tar and feather this gurl, stop and think a little, just a little you sanctimonious left wing wacko’s. Has anyone asked themselves why she did make this up? Is it not a fact the illegals are constantly causing trouble in our schools and in society in general. An exceptional student, athelete was gunned down only steps from his home in L.A. last week…always gang trouble in most all cities due mainly to the illegals. Did you not cross your mind this gurl was fighting back in her own way? I’m not saying it was right, but there have been a lot worse lies that have caused a lot worse problems. So, slack off and think. The gurl should be punished but 1st lets see if it can be determined why she did it, fair? Come now you libs you are the fairiest in the land are you not?
Could you please point my to a comment from a “left wing wacko” which proposes harsh penalty for the girl?
I can point out a few from the right in the original thread on this issue that seem a bit more “closed minded” and bigoted:
TOS: Do you ever just stop and think about why people feel angry and frustrated about illegal immigration? Does your thought train ever go that far or do you just derail it when it comes to any unpleasant thoughts?
Have you ever walked the halls of a suburban/urban school and see what’s happening? You should have been around when I taught in a local Colorado Springs school during the major immigration marches… perhaps, you would begin to understand that there are illegal immigrants who think they are entitled to a) American citizenship without working for it, b) bearing children in the US so that they can become instant US citizens (this little provision needs to be repealed), and c) free goodies like healthcare, education, food stamps, etc. d) commit crimes against US citizens without paying a price.
Have you been asleep all this time or what?
emjem24,
I dont disagree about your a-d. Yes, there are illegal immigrants such as those. However, the immediate codemnation of the alleged perpetrators in this case as those types of illegal immigrants was unfair. I try to judge each individual on their character and merits rather than the color of their skin or where they were born. If you did the same perhaps, you would begin to understand that there are illegal immigrants who DO NOT think they are entitled to a) American citizenship without working for it, b) bearing children in the US so that they can become instant US citizens (this little provision needs to be repealed), and c) free goodies like healthcare, education, food stamps, etc. d) commit crimes against US citizens without paying a price.
I for one still think you are an idiot.
Please refer to comment number 1. Read it and understand it before you keep running your yap for someone to apologize for stating the obvious about illegal immigration.
i think i could do without the 13 year old’s picture. does the msm know no bounds?
Are you calling me a racist, TOS? You really do have a nerve. Have you ever taught a class that was so out of control because a couple of Latino students decided that they no longer wanted to participate in their own “free education” and rather blather on about the forthcoming immigration march? Have you ever experienced that?
How dare you suggest that I judge a person by their skin tone? What was I supposed to do in the instance I just cited? Sit back and let those kids interrupt the students actually interested in learning? Yeah, I took their “skin color” into consideration when I wrote them up, called security, and had them escorted out of class.
If you don’t think you’re not being judged every day by certain minorities (such as what I’ve found in the black community I live in), you’re living in a fog.
Another thing, the illegal immigrants are in this country ILLEGALLY. The children they either brought with them or bore while here have the impression things are “owed” them. Furthermore, illegal immigrant kids/anchor babies who attend public school yet don’t work hard enough to either pass a class or graduate are not worth my respect.
Yeah, when you have some Latino kids hijack your high school class, we’ll talk, okay, TOS?