Albany

Three UAlbany students said they experienced a racially-motivated assault and harassment on a CDTA bus early Saturday morning. University and city police are investigating.

The three female students, who are African-American, told UAlbany police that they sat at the back of a CDTA bus after boarding past midnight on Saturday morning. The students said a verbal argument began between the group and a group of between 10 and 12 white men and women.

During the argument, the victims said they were called several racial slurs before a fight broke out. One woman told university police that several men kicked her after she fell to the floor.

The female students who said they were attacked left the bus at a campus bus stop, and two of them, with minor scrapes on their faces, went to Albany Medical Center to be evaluated.

Albany police got a call at about 1:20 a.m. Saturday after the alleged assault, spokesman Officer Steve Smith said, and they responded to the UAlbany campus.

"As far as any racial slurs that might have been said, certainly if a hate crime was committed, that's something that the Albany police would take very seriously," Smith said.

University president Robert Jones said in an email to UAlbany students that if the individuals responsible are UAlbany students, the school "will hold them fully accountable for their behavior."

Jones said in his email that he is off campus Saturday and will return to Albany as soon as he can "to address the situation."

"I am deeply concerned, saddened and angry about this incident," he said.

Jones emailed students on Saturday afternoon, but many on campus had been aware of the allegations throughout the day. One of the alleged victims posted several messages to Twitter describing the attack, and group text messages circulated her account of the story.

Students interviewed Saturday said they heard about the allegations as early as Saturday morning on social media platforms including Yik Yak, Instagram and Twitter.

Black Lives Matter activist DeRay McKesson said Saturday on Twitter that he stood with the UAlbany victims, bringing national attention to the incident.

"Living here, it hits closer to home," said sophomore Nigel Pura-Bryant on campus Saturday, expressing disappointment over reports of inaction from passengers. "Hopefully justice is served."

Freshman Cassidy Greco said she heard about the "horrible" incident from a friend from her hometown, who saw the story spread virally online.

The majority of CDTA buses have cameras on board, CDTA spokeswoman Jaime Watson said. She said as far as she knows, this bus was equipped with a camera, and the Albany Police Department has asked to view footage.

CDTA bus drivers are trained to call the dispatch center if an attack occurs on a bus, Watson said. The dispatch center then would notify police, she said.

"At this point I don't have all of the details of what did or did not happen on the bus," she said on Saturday afternoon, noting that CDTA is working with police to determine what did or did not occur. "It's not something that CDTA wants happening on the buses and we hope to get more details soon."

About 57 percent of university students are white, and about 13 percent are black, according to the UAlbany website.

lellis@timesunion.com • 518-454-5018 • @lindsayaellis