3 San Jose State Students Charged With Hate Crime Over Alleged Bullying

[Updated (11/22/2013, 6:30 a.m.) with news of the students’ suspension.]

Three San Jose State University students face misdemeanor hate-crime and battery charges after they were accused of bullying their black roommate by outfitting their shared dormitory suite with a Confederate flag and hazing him in other ways, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

Police reports indicated that the three men had acknowledged during interviews that they had harassed the roommate. But the students denied that their actions had been racist, saying that they were jokes, according to the newspaper.

Prosecutors filed the charges on Wednesday, and the three students could each face up to a year in jail if convicted. Mohammad H. Qayoumi, the university’s president, said in a written statement that the three students had been suspended. He said he was “outraged and saddened by these allegations,” adding that the university would re-examine its diversity programs and safety measures.