Doubts arise over Brian Williams’ story about being mugged at gunpoint in New Jersey. Read more on the story after the jump!
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Locals in New Jersey, are questioning the credibility of an old story by Brian Williams that he was being mugged at gunpoint. Williams claims that he was threatened at gunpoint in the 1970s. According to Williams, he was selling Christmas trees as a young boy when someone stuck a .38-caliber pistol in his face. According to his story, Williams was trying to help a local church when the thief grabbed his money. In 2008 he told, New Jersey Monthly, “That wasn’t a bad job, until a guy came up and stuck a .38-caliber pistol in my face and made me hand over all the money. Merry Christmas, right? Of course, I suddenly appreciated the other jobs I thought I hated.”
Many Residents say the claims are very unlikely because Red Bank is a quiet suburb and was very safe in the 1970s. One local said, “I find it hard to believe anyone was held up in this area in the ’70s. It was very safe.” This story was often repeated by Brian Williams about his bravery growing up in New Jersey. Since apologizing over his exaggerated claims from the war coverage, he stated that it is ‘painfully apparent’ that he has become a distracting news story. Many other questions have been raised about previous claims by Williams including one that he saw a body in the Hurricane Katrina floodwaters in New Orleans in 2005.
Danny Murphy who owned a restaurant just a few blocks from where Williams claims he was mugged said, “I would highly doubt he’s telling the truth,’ told the New York Post. “I find it hard to believe anyone was held up in this area in the ’70s. It was very safe.” Many residents said that the area was so safe at the time that kids could walk around at night alone on their own. Yolanda DeMaria, 93 says, “It was never dangerous here…It was a very peaceful town, a lovely town. It was a small town with a dress shop and a five-and-dime. No one locked their cars.” Les Carbone, 85 also said, “He’s going to tell you a lot of things. I doubt he was robbed at gunpoint. I was born in Red Bank, there were no crimes like that. Tell Brian Williams to stop lying.”
