Now, Randi Rhodes' attorney says she wasn't mugged by the right, though he's not saying what did happen on that Park Avenue sidewalk...
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 Daily News 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."
Rhodes started with the Air America when it launched in 2004. Her show airs from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays.
The network released a statement that said Rhodes "experienced an unfortunate incident."
"The reports of a presumed hate crime are unfounded," the statement read by a receptionist at the network's New York offices said. "Ms. Rhodes is looking forward to being back on the air on Thursday." The situation gets even murkier from there, as the Miami Herald reports:
In a phone interview Tuesday afternoon, her attorney, Robert V. Gaulin, said that Rhodes ``was disoriented after she hit the ground and sustained facial injuries...We have no reason to believe she was a target...She's at the doctor.''
He wouldn't elaborate on her injuries but said she was in pain. He said that onlookers helped.
``She was assisted and went on her way. She did not at the time file a police report.''
Gaulin noted that ''some people get hit from behind. She did not walk into anything,'' but he wouldn't say if Rhodes believes she was hit from behind.
Simon the Yorkshire terrier, he said, ``was not involved.''
He called the situation ''a mess,'' adding that Elliott ``didn't talk to us and didn't get any information from us.''
Late Tuesday Elliott issued a statement saying, ``I shouldn't have speculated based on hearsay that Randi Rhodes had been mugged and that it may have been an attack from a right-wing hate machine. I apologize for jumping to conclusions based on an emotional reaction.
``I wish Randi nothing but the best and look forward to a speedy recovery.''
Randi could be back on the air on Thursday.Labels: Air America, Randi Rhodes |
