When three female students from the State University of New York at Albany reported they had been the victims of a racially motivated attack on a city bus, the university’s president cut short a trip so he could return to campus and follow through on his written promise to respond “rapidly and forcefully.”
That's love @WakaFlocka #DefendBlackGirlsUAlbany #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/4NJrETtp0O
— Melaninaire? (@DevyDAY) February 2, 2016
@DevyDAY the SUNY Albany President R Jones letter should have been written "Today we received an allegation from 3 students" just sayin.
— Deciduous Trees (@DeciduousTrees) February 25, 2016
One of the alleged victims recounted on her Twitter feed the attack by a mob of as many as a dozen white students.
https://twitter.com/AshaBurwell/status/693320667308113921
https://twitter.com/AshaBurwell/status/693330237560602624
https://twitter.com/AshaBurwell/status/693330399125176320
https://twitter.com/AshaBurwell/status/693330713333075968
https://twitter.com/AshaBurwell/status/693330936755257344
https://twitter.com/AshaBurwell/status/693332155276120064
https://twitter.com/AshaBurwell/status/693343783061159936
Not surprisingly, the campus rallied around the victims with protests and tweeted their support with the #DefendBlackGirlsUAlbany hashtag.
Hundreds rally to protest attack on 3 black women at SUNY Albany https://t.co/8EpF7LsxDH
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) February 2, 2016
SUNY Albany has had a hate crime hoax,but a protest photo looks like a bit like female Chappelle Show skit pic.twitter.com/q6WWNdfRGf
— Prudence Paine (@PruPaine) February 4, 2016
Look who else jumped in with a tweet of support linking to the USA Today story:
There's no excuse for racism and violence on a college campus. https://t.co/ADVghl4iEv -H
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 4, 2016
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Within days, though, the students’ story began to unravel, not helped at all by recordings of 911 calls and security video from the bus showing the entire incident as it played out.
@DevyDAY @AshaBurwell @WakaFlocka
Hmmmmm….LIES!!!!!!!https://t.co/eI3NY796XF— Fraud Exposer (@Exposer69) February 26, 2016
Even after the hoax was exposed, the students had defenders who cited the “aggressive nature” of the disciplinary proceedings by the “University of Injustice.”
We stand in solidarity with the students facing these charges. #DefendBlackGirlsUAlbany pic.twitter.com/FRZR3SioZM
— City College SER (@CityCollegeSER) March 8, 2016
https://twitter.com/kikimonst3r/status/727523829615054848
Eventually, the students were indicted on charges of assault and falsely reporting a crime.
N.Y. college students accused of fabricating racially motivated attack https://t.co/qaDdvcDnak
— AnneClaire Stapleton (@AnneClaireCNN) May 3, 2016
Support for the alleged victims didn’t end with the exposure of the hoax, though. Even at their arraignment, some coordinated support under the claim that the students were being “unjustly and aggressively prosecuted.”
RE: UAlb Indictmentshttps://t.co/iN51d5ibTu#DefendBlackGirlsUAlbany #DefendBlackWomenUAlbany #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/CbHWZxjdRE
— BLMUpstateNY (@BLMUpstateNY) May 3, 2016
In the latest development, two of the three students have been expelled, while the third has been suspended for two years, despite even further attempts to defend the hoax.
UAlbany race hoaxers have been expelled – https://t.co/xIJEYdAo43
— Ashe Schow (@AsheSchow) May 10, 2016
Ashe Schow of the Washington Examiner writes:
The disciplinary action comes after the students were arrested and charged with 10 misdemeanor charges, including assault and false reporting.
…
Audio and video collected from the attack showed one of the accusers throwing the first punch and another using a racial slur while white bus riders tried to break up the fight. When one of the accusers called 911 after the fight to report a race-based crime, she bragged about “beat[ing] up a boy.”
A tentative trial date has been scheduled for September. In the meantime, President Obama might want to bring his Howard University commencement speech on the road.
"Remember the tie that does bind us as African Americans: That is is our particular awareness of injustice, unfairness, & struggle." —@POTUS
— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) May 7, 2016
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