Looks like the blogosphere got the better of folks this week. It was all over the net (TalkingRadio blog) that Air America Radio host Randi Rhodes was mugged on Sunday night in NYC while she was walking her dog. According to posts, AAR host Jon Elliott said Rhodes was mugged and beaten, losing several teeth. The blogs claimed Elliott wondered on-air that because Rhodes was wearing a jogging suit and displayed no purse or jewelry that it did not appear to be a "standard grab the money and run mugging…Is this an attempt by the right wing hate machine to silence one of our own? Are we threatening them. Are they afraid that we’re winning. Are they trying to silence intimidate us?"
However, the claim she was brutally attacked are bogus, her lawyer and a police source told the NY Daily News: "A police source said Rhodes never filed a report and never claimed to be the victim of a mugging. Cops from Manhattan’s 17th Precinct called her attorney, who told them Rhodes was not a victim of a crime, the source said."
Rhodes’ lawyer told the paper she was injured in a fall while walking her dog. He said she’s not sure what happened, and only knows that she fell down and is in a lot of pain. The lawyer said Rhodes expects to be back on the air Thursday. He stressed there is no indication she was targeted or that she was the victim of a "hate crime."
