It was a story published by some outlets yesterday. And, frankly, we were about to pull the trigger on publishing it too, right before the City Attorney's office said, “This is not true.”

Literally — that's what the office stated.

Lawyer Fred Dorton apparently told reporters that charges against six students arrested during what some have alleged was a racially motivated raid on a party near USC earlier this month had been dropped. Now the City Attorney's office says that's not true:

Here's what the office has to day about Dorton's remarks:

Contrary to widespread news reports, the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office has not dropped charges against six USC students arrested during an off-campus party May 4, 2013.

… No decision has been made on filing the case. The City Attorney's Office is gathering evidence and the case remains under review.

Police arrested one student on suspicion of felony interfering with police, one on suspicion of misdemeanor interfering and four on suspicion of failing to disperse, cops told us earlier.

It happened after officers raided the party near campus.

In fact, police told us that cops were actually dealing with two nearby parties as dozens and perhaps hundreds of young people were leaving both events and authorities were met with bottles and other debris, which then prompted the riot-gear response.


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Students at one of the events said they were treated to the riot-gear treatment because attendees were mostly African American and Latino. White students at the party across the street backed up that claim and said cops dealt with them differently.

Officers say they were responding to noise complaints and told folks at both events to simmer down. The volume on the music at the minority party, however, went back up after officers went across the street to tell students there to keep it low, according to police and reports.

That's when things fell apart and escalated into a standoff that brought out the troops, police indicated.

The claims of racism prompted an uproar on campus, but LAPD officials maintain that they were fair. The department, however, will investigate officers' actions that night.

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