UAlbany students claiming to be victims of racial bus attack to face charges
UAlbany students claiming to be victims of racial bus attack to face charges
By Anya Tucker
Published: February 24, 2016, 3:49 pm Updated: February 25, 2016, 8:36 am
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – NEWS10 ABC has learned that charges are forthcoming against the three UAlbany students who claimed they were the victims of a racial attack on a CDTA bus.
NEWS10 ABC was told the students will be served with tickets to appear in court. The exact charges are unknown, but it is a sign that law enforcement is moving forward in holding the women accountable for making claims that may not have been true.
Their claims of a racially motivated attack on an Albany city bus spurred a sense of outrage on the University at Albany campus. Social media was on fire, and Hillary Clinton even tweeted about it.
One of the self-proclaimed victims, Asha Burwell, tweeted that she was beaten because of the color of her skin. Her brother, San Diego Chargers lineman Tyreek Burwell, fired off a threatening message to a student whom he thought hurt his sister.
The demands for justice were heard loud and clear at a campus rally. One of the self-proclaimed victims gave a tearful speech. But their claims of racial injustice are now being called false.
Sources with intimate knowledge of the case told NEWS10 ABC that the three young accusers are to be served with tickets to appear in court and face charges.
The main reason? Cameras from inside the bus are said to debunk their claims of racial violence. One source who watched the video firsthand said it was one of the three young women who threw the first punch, and that at no time did any passengers hurl racial slurs as first claimed.
The source said it was one of the accusers who used a slur against a white passenger and called her a nasty name.
Alice Green, a well-known Albany social activist and director of the Center for Law and Justice, was one of the few people who was invited by the Albany County District Attorney to watch the bus video.
“I would not lock them up, but if it comes to be that they made false claims, there needs to be an apology perhaps,” she said of the young accusers.
Green also said the video isn’t of great quality, and she learned more from witness statements.
As for the video being made public, NEWS10 ABC was told that’s going to be left up to the court.NEWS10 feels the public deserves to see the video and will continue to push for it to be released.
but if i said it was fake you be all up in arms.