Three students at an upstate New York college are facing charges after authorities say they attacked another person on a bus, then claimed they were "jumped" by fellow passengers because of their race.
The SUNY-Albany students, all black women, were all arrested on assault and filing false report charges after the alleged attack bus on the school's campus on Jan. 30, officials say.
The women are accused of assaulting a 19-year-old woman aboard the bus, then calling 911 and telling dispatchers 10 to 12 white bus riders hurled racial slurs and attacked them.
Police investigating the case found inconsistencies in the story, and footage from aboard the bus showed one of the three women lunging at someone else in the bus.
A tussle ensued, but the footage obtained by NBC affiliate WNYT doesn't clearly show the whole fight. As the bus was cleared out, one of the black women could be seen throwing a punch at a white passenger.
In a 911 call after the attack, one of the women who was later arrested said "me and my friends got jumped, it was a racial attack," according to WNYT.
The caller adds, "If someone doesn't come and take this down or something, I'm gonna call the news."
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Two of the three women, all of whom are 20, are from Long Island.
University President Robert J. Jones didn't address the charges against the women in a statement Thursday, but asked the community to have "continued patience and respect as the judicial process continues."
