Prosecutors dropped charges Wednesday against six Guilford College football players accused of assaulting three Palestinian students and using ethnic slurs during a campus fight.
Witness statements from nearly 30 people, including the Palestinians, give a "confusing picture" of what happened and showed the fight wasn't about ethnic intimidation, Guilford County Assistant District Attorney Howard Neumann said.
All six players had faced misdemeanor assault charges, while five had been charged with ethnic intimidation, also a misdemeanor, Neumann said. None would have faced jail time if convicted.
The Palestinian students told a magistrate judge they were taunted with racial slurs and called terrorists as they were beaten and kicked during a Jan. 20 fight on campus, according to court papers. Two of the students attend Guilford College, and the third attends North Carolina State University in Raleigh.
"All three agreed the ethnic slurs began after the fight began," Neumann said. "A couple of spectators indicated the bad words came from the spectators, somebody leaning over the balcony."
At least three players apologized to the Palestinian students, while two players said they weren't at the scene, a defense lawyer said.
Neumann said he considered the apologies, "but we're not setting a precedent in Guilford County that as long as you say you're sorry it's OK to break the law."