UAlbany student from LI who claimed to be victim arrested

February 25, 2016 By Jo Napolitano   jo.napolitano@newsday.com

Asha Burwell, center, addresses the crowd at a University at Albany rally on Feb. 1, 2016. Burwell, who said she was the victim of a racially motivated attack last month, faces criminal charges after university police determined she and her friends were actually the aggressors, officials said Thursday, Feb. 25. (Credit: NewsChannel 13)

A University at Albany student from Long Island who claimed she was the victim of a racially motivated attack last month faces criminal charges after university police determined she and her friends were actually the aggressors, officials said Thursday.

Asha Burwell, a 2013 graduate of Walt Whitman High School in South Huntington, and two other African-American women — including another Long Islander — had said they were beaten and called racial epithets by 10 to 12 white students as they all rode a Capital District Transportation Authority bus on Jan. 30.

The melee prompted a subsequent campus rally that attracted hundreds of students, faculty and staff who came out to support the women.

The Albany University Police Department said in a statement Thursday that its investigation determined Burwell, 20, of Huntington Station; Ariel Agudio, 20, of Huntington; and Alexis Briggs, 20, of Elmira Heights, assaulted another passenger on the bus, a 19-year-old woman.

All three face assault charges. Burwell and Agudio also each face a charge of falsely reporting an incident. The women are scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Albany City Police Court.

“The evidence indicates [the women] were actually the aggressors in the physical altercation, and that they continued to assault the victim despite the efforts of several passengers to stop them,” the statement said. “Investigators also found no evidence to support the initial allegations that these three women were targeted in any manner due to their race, and no evidence that racial slurs were directed toward them.”

Evidence in the case included interviews with 35 passengers on the bus and review of video and audio recordings, police said.

“We took this incident very seriously and did a thorough and careful investigation,” New York State University Police Chief J. Frank Wiley said in a statement. “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.”

Albany university president Robert Jones, in a letter to students after the alleged attack, said he was concerned, saddened and angered by the incident.

In a statement Thursday, Jones said: “I want to thank the University Police Department for doing a careful and thorough job, and I want to thank the community and our students, faculty and staff for being patient as this investigation took place.

“This matter is now in the hands of the criminal justice system. I look forward to the resolution of this case.”

Burwell, a high honor roll student in high school and a former member of Whitman’s varsity track and tennis teams, spoke briefly at the Feb. 1 rally. She said, as seen as a video on Twitter, “We are determined to seek the justice which we deserve and we will not give up.”

Attempts to reach Burwell were not successful.

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