Students who falsely reported a racist attack will be charged

False accusations will not stop until those who make them face real consequences for their actions.

Washington Examiner | Friday | February 26, 2016

Several students who falsely claimed they were the victims of a race-based attack at the hands of a dozen white people will be charged, most likely with filing a false report.

The three students at the State University of New York at Albany claimed they were attacked by a dozen white people while riding on a bus in January. The alleged attack quickly caught the attention of Black Lives Matter activists, the school's president and even presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, all of whom condemned the attack before any evidence was provided.

The evidence showed the attack was a hoax, and in fact that one of the alleged victims threw the first punch. Bus cameras also showed that no passengers yelled racial slurs at the students, as they had claimed, but one of the accusers did use a racial slur against a white passenger.

Nonetheless, SUNY Albany President Robert Jones said he was "deeply concerned, saddened and angry about this incident." He added that "there is no place in the SUNY Albany community for violence, no place for racial intolerance and no place for gender violence."

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton even tweeted about the incident shortly after protesters took to the campus to decry the alleged assault. Clinton wrote: "There's no excuse for racism and violence on a college campus."

One SUNY Albany student actually did become a victim after this story was reported. The brother of one of the accusers — who is a lineman for the San Diego Chargers — threatened a student over Twitter whom he claimed was one of the attackers before quickly deleting the tweet. The threatened student allegedly left school fearing for his safety.

In an odd decision, the Albany County District Attorney actually allowed activists to view evidence of the alleged assault. One activist who viewed the footage of course argued against jailing the accusers, but suggested they apologize.

We cannot keep allowing false accusations to go unpunished. False accusations are damaging, and liars who cause major upheavals and greater racial distrust should not be allowed to get off with a slap on the wrist. False accusations will not stop until those who make them face real consequences for their actions.

Ashe Schow is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/students-who-falsely-reported-a-racist-attack-will-be-charged/article/2584259