Thread: False Report Charge For Girl In Athens School Attack

I think what happened is that she was assaulted but by fewer people and less harshly than she reported. It still is an assault and should require the school take an even disiplinary action against both the assault perpetrators and the girl who had overstated the charges. If the political pressure from the Latino and other amnesty people is preventing justice we should take action in her support. If there is a disiplinary action against the girl TOO we should accept that.

I saw the side of her face in that one news video that Alipac sent out as an email. Those weren't scratches. I think that they are worried about this story getting out and it's reprecussions (sp?).

Something isn't right here.

After the incident, administrators reviewed videotapes of the incident which showed Bowers scratching herself on her arm.

We all know teenagers, was she scratching herself or was she rubbing her arms because they hurt or to make the scratch marks stand out more. Remember they wouldn't let her use the phone and said they did not see anything wrong with her.

Until this girl says that she lied, I am not believing this latest story.

Originally Posted by Richard

I think what happened is that she was assaulted but by fewer people and less harshly than she reported. It still is an assault and should require the school take an even disiplinary action against both the assault perpetrators and the girl who had overstated the charges. If the political pressure from the Latino and other amnesty people is preventing justice we should take action in her support. If there is a disiplinary action against the girl TOO we should accept that.

This is an issue that must not be hushed, it must be addressed.

She should be held liable for overstating the charges.

We cannot ignore that something DID happen.

Verbal assault is still assault and should be treated as such.

I, myself, have been verbally assaulted for my views on illegal immigration and have not filed charges because I feared that some of the people making the threats would follow through on them.

My elderly mother was verbally terrorized at home, in hospital and her home vandalized by illegal alien supporters, because of my outspoken views. I kept quiet for years so she would remain safe. The police were not able to guarantee her safety at all. My mother passed away this winter and I swore on both my parents graves that I will no longer remain silent!

There are two sides to every story. When one side condones/incites/encourages/aids/abets violence against another with opposing views, something MUST be done!

Supporters of illegal immigration will often turn into bullys to intimidate the opposition, while the opposition will back down to keep the peace. How long will this be allowed to continue?

Originally Posted by SarahPorter

Something isn't right here.

I am running into some contradictions when I surf the web looking for the story. It is now 6:51 PM EST as I write this. One thing that is strange is that no video of the ISD surveillance cameras showing that she only scratched herself has not shown up on the web yet.

If she is entirely to blame I would guess that something may have happened t her in the recent past and she is forcing herself to play act it as a cry for help. I think that a psychologist would be able to get police to remove any charges once the "truth" comes out whichever way it goes.

The stories about the incident are almost universally poorly written with little background or context. I am suspect that Melanie's father "agreed with the charges" against her without there being more substantiating information.

I am using a new folder on my desktop to save pages and youtube videos as they come in.

The last time I remember something like this happening was when the year 2000 census was being taken and there were rumors on the web that census taken were harrassing people for refusing to fill out the race portions of the questionaires. In many cases stories would get taken down as soon as they appeared on the web and government agents would frequent chat rooms spreading propaganda to defuse the situation.

The problem is now we do not know what happened! We don't know if she was attacked, but embelished her story to make it appear more severe, or perhaps the whole story was fabricated and no attack occured. Or perhaps the attack occured as she reported but she has recanted her story because her family has been threatened.

Her parents have apparenly seen the tape and seem to have indicated her injuries were self inflicted. So I do not know, at this point I do not know what to believe...

Originally Posted by SarahPorter

I saw the side of her face in that one news video that Alipac sent out as an email. Those weren't scratches. I think that they are worried about this story getting out and it's reprecussions (sp?).

Something isn't right here.

That was my first thought too. That she was rubbing her arm.

In any case, this needs to be looked into.

But this statement alone bothers me:

“I think that probably what we ought to look at is, if it’s a current issue we probably don’t need a protest poster made on that issue,â€

Girl Faked Anti-Illegal Immigration Sign Attack, Official Says

Last Edited: Wednesday, 09 Apr 2008, 4:45 PM CDT
Created: Wednesday, 09 Apr 2008, 3:54 PM CDT

Melanie Bowers of Athens claimed she was attacked.


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Stories
Girl Attacked for Anti-Illegal Immigration Sign



A girl who claimed she was injured by a group of Hispanic students because of a class project lied about the attack, a school official said.

Melanie Bowers, 13, had claimed that a group of middle school students physically assaulted and threatened to rape her because of the anti-illegal immigration poster she created for a class project, which instructed students to craft a protest sign.

However, Bowers made up the story, according to Athens Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Fred Hayes.

He said three boys did rip the poster out of her hand, but that school surveillance video captured Bowers injuring herself -- scratching her arms and face.

The district will pursue charges against Bowers for filing a false police report and would also punish the boys, Hayes said.

Bowers parents have signed a letter of apology for Bowers' false accusations, he said.

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/myfox/pages/New ... geId=3.2.1

04/09/08 - Athens
Athens School 'Attack' Proven To Be False, Girl To Be Charged
Inside KLTV.com
East Texas Teenager Attacked Over History Project
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There are major new developments today in the case of a supposed beating of a student from Athens Middle School.

Charges are being filed against 13 year old Melanie Bowers by Athens ISD through the Henderson County District Attorney's office for filing a false report, said AISD officials today.

Bowers claimed earlier this week that she was beaten and threatened - with killing and rape, no less - 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 Melanie's accusations, administrators reviewed school survellience videotape of the incident - which, instead of showing students beating or attacking her, showed Bowers scratching herself on her arms, face, and neck, and walking through the halls of the school calmly long after she claimed the incident happened.

After Melanie's parents were presented with that information and the video, the school confronted Melanie, and she admitted that she made the story up.

The poster was indeed taken from Melanie, but she reported the incident to a teacher and was sent back to class. 3 students involved in taking Melanie's project were in 'in school suspension' for today only.

Bowers' parents have apologized to school administrators for their daughter, and Bowers' father, Gary Bower Jr., is agreeing with the charges against her. "I have reviewed the recording and agree with the charges that will need to be filed," he has said today.

Melanie's mother, Shera Bowers, released a statement which reads, "I see my daughter was not assaulted, and put the marks on her body. No gang violence as witnessed. She filed a false report."

KLTV 7 News will have video of the tape from Athens ISD tonight on KLTV 7 News at 5:00, 6:00, and 10:00 pm.

Cathryn Khalil, reporting. ckhalil@kltv.com

http://www.kltv.com/global/story.asp?s=8142322