Racist Attack Was Made Up: Black Albany Students Accused Of Beating White Girl

On Jan. 30, students at the State University of New York at Albany piled onto the late night route of what many call the “drunk bus.”

What then transpired was initially reported as a racist attack against three African American women. Ariel Agudio, Alexis Briggs, and Asha Burwell, all 20, called 911 to report that they were physically attacked by a dozen white men while being subjected to racial slurs and epithets, CNN reported.

In Agudio’s initial call, she told the dispatcher, “It was a racial crime. They were calling us [N-word] and all this stuff… And if someone doesn’t come and take this down or something, I’m going to call the news,” according to Fox News.

Burwell continued the story of the racist attack in an Instagram post, The Albany Times Union reported.

“A whole bunch of guys started hitting me and my two friends, punching us in the head. (The bus driver) let the bus sit at the stop at the social science building while my friend got beat in the head by white guys.”

Afterward, the Albany college held a rally in support of the women. People decried the claim that bystanders wouldn’t help and the racist attack became a symbol for how American society doesn’t protect women of color. It even inspired a #DefendBlackGirlsUAlbany and a sympathetic tweet from Democratic president candidate Hillary Clinton.

But behind the scenes, Albany’s university police began to investigate the racist attack over the following three weeks, uncovering a different story. Now, these three women are under arrest for false reporting. Police claim the racist attack never happened.

Albany police allege that the roles were actually reversed — on the bus that night, Agudio, Briggs, and Burwell were the aggressors. They’re accused of attacking a white girl and are allegedly the only ones who screamed racial slurs.

Ariel is facing charges of assault in the third degree, falsely reporting an incident in the third degree, attempted assault in the third degree and attempted criminal mischief in the fourth degree; Alexis is facing a count of assault in the third degree, and Asha has been charged with assault in the third degree and falsely reporting an incident in the third degree.

The 19-year-old victim hasn’t been identified.

Albany police came to this conclusion after interviewing 35 passengers who witnessed the racist attack and combing through video from a dozen security cameras and footage taken on camera phones by passengers. Albany Police Chief Frank Wiley released a statement about the unexpected twist in the case.

“The evidence shows that, contrary to how the defendants originally portrayed things, these three individuals were not the victims of a crime. Rather, we allege that they are the perpetrators. No male struck the three women. The evidence indicates they were actually the aggressors… and that they continued to assault the victim despite the efforts of several passengers to stop them … What happened on the bus was not a ‘hate crime.’ The only person we heard uttering racial epithets was one of the defendants.”

MORE: Three women, Ariel Agudio, Alexis Briggs, and Asha Burwell face assault, other charges. https://t.co/36vLOJEOo6

— CBS 6 Albany – WRGB (@CBS6Albany) February 25, 2016

NY students who claimed they were victims of racially-motivated attack face charges https://t.co/3YlVGCokZj pic.twitter.com/qMc4qQQYfK

— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) February 26, 2016

In fact, the evidence suggests that the white men accused of the racist attack against the women were actually trying to stop the fracas on the bus.

However, despite the camera footage, witness testimony, and the criminal charges in this allegedly fabricated racist attack, Albany students don’t know who to believe. It’s possible that the cameras didn’t capture a fight that occurred before everyone got on the bus, some say.

Agudio’s attorney, Mark Mishler, said that the case is a prime example of how people make assumptions before they have the full story; he called the charges against his client “unfortunate” and “unwarranted”

“It is also unfortunate that some in the media and public appear to have reached a conclusion as to what occurred in this incident without actually having the information needed.”

[Image via Shutterstock]