University of Texas bleach bombing attacks on black students spark outcry

Students at the University of Texas are accused of throwing water balloons filled with bleach at their peers, ABC News reported. And it's possible that they may be targeting black students with the dangerous practice. 

Concerns that the attacks are racially motivated sparked a protest against hate crimes on campus. In the protest march, black students said that they had been targeted by bleach bombs in the West Campus area, WFAA reported. Austin police also reported speaking to victims involved in separate and similar incidents, though it's not clear if the balloons in those cases were filled with bleach.  

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"A bleach-bomb fell and hit me, my roommate; well almost hit us. It barely missed us," student Jaysen Runnels said at the March, KVUE reported. "It's very frustrating to know that it's 2012 and that stuff like this still happens."

The vice president of UT’s Panhellenic Council also admitted that sororities often throw balloons filled with substances at people in the West Campus area during recruitment period. Police are still trying to figure out if the attacks are hate crimes, but either way, hurling an object at someone from an apartment balcony is considered assault, KVUE said.