Twelve college students at Maryland’s Salisbury College have been charged with hate crimes after they allegedly focused a person on Grindr, lured him to an residence and savagely beat him in a sick anti-gay assault, cops stated.
The scholars — all related to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity — are accused of making a pretend profile on the relationship app so they might goal the unidentified sufferer due to his “sexual orientation,” the Salisbury Police Division stated.
They then posed as a 16-year-old boy — the age of consent in Maryland — to persuade the sufferer to return to an off-campus residence on Oct. 15 beneath “false pretenses,” police stated.
As soon as he was inside, the group surrounded the person and compelled him to sit down on a chair in the course of the lounge, in accordance with cops.
“After being forcefully seated, the sufferer was kicked, punched, and spit on whereas the boys referred to as the sufferer derogatory names,” police stated in a press release, including the alleged assault lasted a number of minutes.
At the very least one pupil, who was sporting a Salisbury College hoodie, hit the sufferer a number of occasions with a cooking sheet, WJZ reported, citing charging paperwork.
The sufferer instructed investigators he repeatedly tried to flee however was tossed to the ground every time.
After ultimately being allowed to depart the residence, the sufferer was handled for his accidents — together with a damaged rib and bruising throughout his physique.
Cops had been solely made conscious of the incident after two individuals reported that one of many males had proven them a video of a part of the alleged assault, the charging docs state.
The dozen males charged are Bennan Aird, 18, Ryder Baker, 20, Riley Brister, 20, Cruz Cespedes, 19, Dylan Earp, 20, Elijah Johnson, 19, Zachary Leinemann, 18, Patrick Gutierrez, 19, Cameron Man, 18, Jacob Howard, 19, Dylan Pietuszka, 20, and Eric Sinclair, 21.
Along with the hate crime expenses, the scholars had been slapped with assault, false imprisonment and reckless endangerment counts.
Police haven’t disclosed how previous the sufferer is, if he’s related to the faculty or if he knew his alleged attackers.
A Salisbury College spokesperson stated the scholars allegedly concerned had all been suspended because the police probe unfolds.
“Salisbury College condemns all acts of violence,” they stated in a press release.
“Any pupil who commits an act of violence can anticipate to face prison expenses, in addition to disciplinary motion beneath SU’s Pupil Code of Group Requirements. The crimes described are in direct battle with Salisbury College’s values and what we stand for.”
“Hate has no place at SU,” the spokesperson added.
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