Two black female college students who claimed to be victims of an assault by a group of white men and women reportedly were expelled from the University at Albany.
(FOX)- University at Albany President Robert J. Jones said in an email to The Albany Times Union Thursday that Ariel Agudio and Asha Burwell were dismissed from the college. A third student, Alexis Briggs, was suspended for two years.
Agudio and Burwell were charged with misdemeanor assault and falsely reporting an incident and Briggs was charged with misdemeanor assault in February stemming from a January bus incident. News 10 reported Wednesday all three women pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The women, all 20 years old, claimed they were attacked early on the morning of Jan. 30 while riding a bus. They claimed they were called racial slurs and were physically attacked while bystanders looked on.
Investigators say a review of multiple videos of the incident showed no evidence the women were victims of a crime or subjected to racial slurs. In fact, police said the women were the aggressors, assaulting a 19-year-old white woman.
Police said surveillance and cellphone video, as well as eyewitness testimony, contradicted the women’s account. The white men Agudio, Burwell and Briggs claimed assaulted them were actually trying to break up the fight.