An N.C. State student and two friends from Guilford College in Greensboro were beaten on that campus this weekend, prompting some to allege the trio fell victim to a ‘hate crime.’

According to a Greensboro Police report, Omar Awartani, a freshman in aerospace and mechanical engineering, was assaulted along with two friends, Osama Sabbah and Faris Khader, at Guilford Saturday at 1 a.m.

A Guilford College statement said the altercation lasted less than five minutes and involved “physical violence and alleged verbal abuse during and after the incident.” The statement also said about 12 students participated “either in the fight or attempts to break it up.”

Awartani declined to comment late last night or make any statements yet to the Technician, saying he already regretted the statements he made to other media outlets. Awartani said he does need his university’s support at this time, especially since “I’m away from my family.”

Sabbah and Khader did not immediately return phone messages left late last night.

As of 10 p.m. Tuesday night, the Greensboro Police Department said an investigation is underway, but said the investigators were not in the office for comment.

According to the Greensboro News & Record, police charged Michael Bates, Michael Six and Christopher Barnette with ethnic intimidation and assault and battery.

The statement from Guilford College said the students, who are all members of the football team, were arrested Monday and released on bond. The release also said their “status as students at the College remains unchanged pending a college judicial process.”

Nusaybah Ismail, a freshman in sports management, said Awartani, who came from Palestine to study at N.C. State, spoke to her after the incident.

“He was with his friends in a courtyard at Guilford,” Ismail said. “[Guilford] football players just came up to them and started beating them up, calling them names.”

According to Ismail, the football players yelled things like “go back to your land.”

“It was just a hate crime,” she said.

Ibraheem Khalifa, a senior in computer engineering, said he did not know Awartani but that he heard about the incident while at the mosque when a reporter from ABC news approached him and started asking him questions.

According to Khalifa, he does not expect something like this to happen at NCSU, “a university with a significant international community and awareness” because even after Sept. 11, 2001, NCSU Muslim students did not experience physical harm.

Guilford College will hold a forum today at 4:30 p.m. at the Bryan Jr. Auditorium.