Fri Dec 7, 5:26 PM ET

BALTIMORE - Transit officials said they are investigating the beating of a white woman by nine black middle school students on a city bus as a possible hate crime.

Sarah Kreager, 26, suffered broken facial bones and other injuries after she was punched, kicked and dragged off the bus Tuesday afternoon. Kreager's companion, Troy Ellis, also was beaten, but not as severely.

"We are at this point investigating it as a hate crime," said Maryland Transit Administration spokeswoman Jawauna Greene.

The students — three girls and six boys 14 to 15 years old — have been charged with aggravated assault and destruction of property.

The students, who ride the bus to school, have been released into the custody of their parents, Greene said. Their bus privileges were revoked.

MTA Northern District Capt. David Marzola said the students also are accused of menacing an elderly white passenger and assaulting the bus operator, a black man who defended the passenger.

"He probably saved this gentleman's life," Marzola said.

The driver was not identified because he is considered a witness to a crime, the MTA said.

MTA police said evidence has not been found to support claims by the students' parents that Kreager or Ellis provoked the attack by spitting or displaying a knife. Green said no child reported any spitting or a knife at the time reports were taken.

Video from a surveillance camera on the bus is being analyzed as part of the investigation, the MTA said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/bus_beating;_ylt=ArR5PcPloNGdudCjwRCfQGoDW7oF

lovely.....Not only did the parents not raise their kids properly, they tried to lie...to give their kids an aliby, rather than have their kids take responsibility for their actions!

to me this isnt a black vs white thing, its just badly raised children

If it had been white kids beating a black woman, would it be called a "hate crime"? Besides, all crimes against humans are hate. You don't commit a crime upon someone because you LIKE THEM.

If it had been white kids beating a black woman, would it be called a "hate crime"?most likely, yes.

If it had been white kids beating a black woman, would it be called a "hate crime"? Besides, all crimes against humans are hate. You don't commit a crime upon someone because you LIKE THEM.

I think it would (the media here says it whenever there's a mix of colour)

But very good point - ANY beating is a hate crime. Duh!

A similar story has surfaced here in NYC. A group of black girls taped themselves (!) beating up a white male on a subway train. And like in the Baltimore incident, the girls caught for this crime have tired to lie thier way out of it too by claiming they were provoked. But the tape doesn't lie. They harrassed then beat a man who did nothing to them.

It's a hate crime. Let's not try to dance around this and be PC.

If a gang of white kids attacked a black woman on a bus, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson would be marching right now.

I see this kind of behavior with teens a lot here in NYC, especially on the subway. You get a group of kids together, and they are rude, loud, disrepectful and think they can do whatever they want because they outnumber you. So it is easy to see how things can escalate really fast into violence.

Behavior like this and violent acts by a pack of "wilding" kids should not be tolerated. Everyone involved should be punished.

'A' train teen regrets not helping victim
BY RICH SCHAPIRO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Sunday, December 9th 2007, 4:00 AM

The Harlem teen who filmed the vicious A train assault is sorry she didn't step in to help the man whose brutal beating she posted on YouTube, her attorney said Saturday.

"She regrets not doing more to help the victim," Earl Ward said of his client, Kadejra Holmes, 17.

"And she feels bad that she posted it on YouTube ... Looking back, she realizes the appropriate response should have been to turn the tape over to authorities."

Kadejra was interviewed by an NYPD detective in her attorney's Manhattan office yesterday.

The aspiring filmmaker was questioned as a witness only and is not expected to face charges, Ward said.

"She's being fully cooperative," he added, noting that although Kadejra and the attackers had been at the same party before the beating, she did not know them well.

Kadejra was in a Brooklyn-bound A train when a group of girls began taunting a seated man and then pounced on him.

She posted her 4-minute, 18-second video of the assault on YouTube on Nov. 7.

The victim, Rafael Cruz, 27, of Brooklyn, did not strike back or report the incident to cops. He said on Friday that he was shocked no one on the train came to his defense.

Keith Belvin, the father of one of the alleged attackers, Kierra Brown, 18, said yesterday he was impressed with Cruz's restraint.

"It's a hard thing to do not to resist," Belvin said. "I'm happy that he wasn't hurt. That's the most important thing."

As of last night, Cruz had not contacted police. Cops say they have no case without him.

Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are ready to defend the actions of black children/adults regardless. Doesn't matter they instigated it, the mere fact that any black person is harmed, THE TWO BUMBLING BROTHERS COME OUT.

so much crime lately we need some good news around here :(

It's a hate crime. Let's not try to dance around this and be PC.

If a gang of white kids attacked a black woman on a bus, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson would be marching right now.

:yeahthat