Home News Following claims of hate crime, ‘victims’ face assault charges after video surfaces

Following claims of hate crime, ‘victims’ face assault charges after video surfaces

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It’s been nearly a month since claims of racism and assault were made by women riding a Capital District Transportation Authority bus.

The three black SUNY Albany students at the center of this case are now being held accountable for what they said. Their claims spurred outrage on the college campus and the alleged attack caused a firestorm across the country.

This all began on Jan 30, when Alexis Briggs, Ariel Agudio and Asha Burwell claimed they were harassed and assaulted on the bus. They told police about 12 white classmates hurled racial slurs at them during a verbal argument before a physical altercation broke out.

After the alleged attack, Burwell took to Twitter to recount the ordeal: “I just got jumped on a bus while people hit us and called us the ‘n’ word and NO ONE helped us.”

One of the self-proclaimed victims says she was beaten because of the color of her skin. Burwell gave a tearful speech during a campus rally in honor of MLK Jr. Day. on Feb 1st– where the university’s president also spoke out against racism on campus.

However,  Ms. Burwell has been pretty quiet since her claims of racial injustice have been debunked.

During a three-week investigation, police reviewed video from 12 security cameras and four cell phones, according to WNYT.  Eyewitness statements -from interviews with about three dozen people — have also given investigators a better idea of what really happened on that CDTA bus at 1am that morning.

One source says it was actually one of the alleged victims who threw the first punch and no one was hurling racial slurs at the three black women. One of the accusers also allegedly called another bus-rider, a “white b*%ch.”

Authorities say Briggs, Burwell and Agudio will be charged with third-degree assault.  Burwell and Agudio will also be charged with falsely reporting the incident, and Agudio with attempted assault and attempted criminal mischief.

“The evidence indicates they were actually the aggressors in the physical altercation, and that they continued to assault the victim despite the efforts of several passengers to stop them,” police said in a statement.

The three young women were served with tickets to appear in court Monday to face their charges, WNYT reports.

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