Ex-Republican NJ staffer staged hoax attack, paid artist to mutilate her, wrote ‘TRUMP WHORE’ on stomach, before escaping from her abductors.
A New Jersey woman and former local Republican staffer has been charged with conspiracy and making false statements after she faked being the victim of a brutal attack, by zip-tying herself, paying an artist to scar her face and body with cuts and writing ‘TRUMP WHORE’ on her stomach in a fabricated plot, the acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey said Wednesday.
Natalie Greene, 26, of Ocean City, N.J, a former staff member for U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), and Rutgers Law School graduate, allegedly told a concocted story to FBI agents, saying she was attacked on July 23 around 10 p.m. by three men who called her names while she was walking with a friend on a nature trail in Egg Harbor Township.
According to the would be victim, Greene who was a congressional aide to Drew at the time had been targeted in a ‘politically motivated attack‘ as per her role for the local NJ Republican congressman.
‘TRUMP WHORE’ & ‘VAN DREW IS RACIST’ scrawled on GOP staffer’s body
During her account, which was deemed to have been fabricated amid inconsistencies during questioning, the men abducted Greene, restrained her on the ground at gunpoint, binding her ankles together with zip ties as they struck her in the head and cut her with a sharp object all over her body.
At the time of her discovery, responding officers found a variety of messages scrawled along her body including, ‘VAN DREW IS RACIST,’ scrawled in capital letters along her back as well as ’TRUMP WHORE’ across her stomach.
During her account, Greene told FBI agents that she was held down and threatened to be shot if she didn’t capitulate only for Greene to somehow manage to escape while still in zip ties and have her friend call 911 only for cops to find the woman tied up near naked during the alleged July evening encounter.
Greene was located lying in a wooded area with her shirt pulled over her head and her hands and feet zip tied, officials said.
The friend, described as Greene’s co-conspirator told authorities that the men called Greene by her name and referenced her employment with Van Drew, officials said.
New Jersey officers took Greene to local hospital to receive medical treatment and treat the cuts on her face, chest and shoulder.
NJ congressional staffer abduction story started to fall apart
Officers started to become suspicious of the incident when they searched Greene’s Maserati car, in which she drove to the nature reserve with her friend. Officers found two black zip ties similar to the ones used in the alleged incident and a roll of duct tape.
Greene also told officers that she worked for a federal official for a number of years and that there were some threats at work ‘but nothing personal to her.’
Detectives obtained a search warrant for Greene’s phone that showed a Reddit profile, in which she was active in communities for body modification and scarification. Detectives also reviewed her travel history, which had directions to a body-modification artist in Pennsylvania.
Calls and a series of Instagram messages were tracked by cops between Greene and the body-modification artist, and they found a waiver form from the artist on July 23. Greene paid $500 for body work and signed a consent form around 2:31 p.m. that day, a little under eight hours before she was found cut up and tied up on the nature trail.
What motivated staged political attack?
Greene, who had spent years as a constituent advocate director for Van Drew, took photos of the exact scars she wanted the artist to execute, complete with patterns for scars and cuts all over her face, neck, upper chest and shoulder.
Detectives concluded the body modifications made by the artist matched the same lacerations Greene sported when cops located her.
Prosecutors and the FBI also worked to gain access to a cellular tower, obtaining the location data from Greene and the friend’s phone, as well as gaining a search warrant for the friend’s phone. Two days before the incident, on July 21, the friend conducted a Google search of ‘zip ties near me,’ and 40 minutes later went into a Dollar General store around 6 p.m. in Ventnor, N.J. It was unclear from video surveillance obtained by officers if the friend actually purchased the zip ties there.
Greene was a constituent advocate director and worked with Van Drew’s office in 2021, according to Legistorm.
News of the former GOP staffer’s indictment led to a release from the local GOP office.
‘We are deeply saddened by today’s news, and while Natalie is no longer associated with the Congressman’s government office, our thoughts and prayers are with her,‘ a spokesperson for Van Drew told the NJ advance media.
While authorities declined to state what motivated the staged attack, commentators on social media surmised the faux attack had been orchestrate to demonize liberals along with others surmizing Greene was a conservative zealot and or just mentally unsound.
If convicted of conspiracy and false statements, Greene, who lives in Ocean City, N.J., could face a maximum imprisonment of up to five years, a $250,000 fine and a three-year term of supervised release.
Greene who made her first court appearance on Wednesday was released on $200,000 unsecured bond in New Jersey Federal Court.
