Two black NYU journalism students say they were racially profiled while reporting at a Marco Rubio town hall event in Bedford, New Hampshire on Sunday afternoon.

Director of NYU journalism’s Reporting the Nation program and professor Yvonne Latty said members of Rubio’s campaign staff addressed two of her students, Ugonma Ubani-Ebere and Taisha Henry, as they started setting up their film equipment. The women were confronted by a staffer who asked them not to film the town hall as they lacked press credentials.

Awful experience at townhall for #Rubio my two #black @nyu_journalism students were racially profiled #newhampshireprimary

— yvonnelatty (@yvonnelatty) February 7, 2016

However, Latty said she believes Ubani-Ebere and Henry were profiled because staff members did not request proper press credentials from adjacent white students.

“[Rubio campaign staff] stared at them and kept approaching them to tell them to put their cameras away even though white students, without credentials were filming,” Latty said in an email.

Even though the two students were eventually allowed back in the building to film, Henry said that the incident at Rubio’s townhall tainted their otherwise rewarding and memorable experience in New Hampshire.

My friend & I were moved to tears. That’s when #Rubio worker feared a PR nightmare. He asked us “what can I do to help?” #NHPrimary

— Taisha Henry (@Taisha_Henry) February 7, 2016

“We were on this high from the whole weekend, we’re covering this huge national story,” Henry said in a phone call. “Rubio was our last stop and to have everything happen at the Rubio event, the whole trip kind of ended on a sour note.”

Henry added that she felt it was unfair that one might overlook her and her colleague’s positions as student journalists because of their ethnicity.

“We’re journalists,” Henry said. “We’re not there as activists, we’re not there to be some kind of heckler. We’re there to cover it, to report on it in an unbiased way. We shouldn’t expect to be racially profiled.”

1) there were only 3 blacks including me and #nyu_journalism students among hundreds of white people at #Rubio townhall. Hassles began fast.

— yvonnelatty (@yvonnelatty) February 7, 2016

2)white and black @nyu_journalism students had cameras only blacks were repeatedly told to put away. It was relentless. #Rubio townhall

— yvonnelatty (@yvonnelatty) February 7, 2016

3)black students said they would but got upset when white students standing next to them with cameras were told nothing. @nyu_journalism

— yvonnelatty (@yvonnelatty) February 7, 2016

4) black students realized what was going on and began to cry. I confronted head guy but damage was done. @nyu_journalism

— yvonnelatty (@yvonnelatty) February 7, 2016

I also felt racially profiled. They did not want to let me into the #rubio event even when I was given a press pass. @nyu_journalism

— yvonnelatty (@yvonnelatty) February 7, 2016

You think people will treat you the same, even when you have the same credentials as the next person, but sadly I learned that’s not true

— Ugonma Ubani-Ebere (@Ugonma_UE) February 7, 2016

The Marco Rubio campaign did not return requests for comment. WSN will update this story as it develops. You can view the NYU journalism’s live blog coverage of the New Hampshire primaries at the New Hampshire Chronicles.

Email Anne Cruz at [email protected]