Twelve Salisbury University students in Maryland charged in hate crime assault of gay man
(Updated Nov. 9, 2024) In a recently revealed and shocking incident at Salisbury University in Maryland, 12 students were charged in connection with a vicious and disturbing hate crime assault on a gay man. The students allegedly used a dating app to lure their victim to an attack that has been classified as a hate crime. This incident has sparked significant concern and outrage within the community, highlighting ongoing issues related to discrimination and violence.
Initially. seven Salisbury University students were arrested and charged with assault and associated hate crimes for attacking a man on October 15. One of those suspects posed as a 16-year-old on the dating app Grindr to lure the victim to the off-campus apartment for a sexual rendezvous.
Salisbury Police said in a news release Tuesday that the alleged crimes took place in an off-campus apartment complex in the 1400 block of University Terrace, where the victim was invited by the suspects between the ages of 18 and 20 under “false pretenses.” When the victim entered the residence, he was allegedly surrounded, forced into a chair and assaulted for “several minutes,” leading to a broken rib. The police investigation revealed that the victim was targeted due to his sexual preferences,” police said. ~ WBFF in Baltimore
Police added that during the assault, the victim was kicked, punched, spat upon and was called derogatory, anti-gay slurs. At one point when he tried leaving the apartment, he was grabbed and thrown to the floor. The victim was eventually able to flee from the scene. As the police investigation into the hate crime evolved, five additional students were arrested and charged – bringing the total number of those involved to twelve suspects. Seven of those students belong to the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon, according to CBS News.
Salisbury University later announced that all of the students involved in the hate-crime have been suspended – and so too was the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
According to charging documents shared by WJZ in Baltimore, one of the assault suspects wearing a Salisbury University hoodie “[struck the victim] in the head multiple times with a cooking sheet in addition to spitting on [the victim] and calling him [a slur] during the incident”
“The first initial response was heartbreak mixed with outrage. There’s no reason something like this should happen just for somebody being who they are,” said Mark DeLancey, executive director of Salisbury PFLAG, an organization that advocates for the LGBTQ+ community.
Police identified the seven suspects associated with the fraternity as:
- 20-year-old Ryder Baker of Olney
- 18-year-old Bennan Aird of Milton, Delaware
- 20-year-old Riley Brister of Davidsonville
- 19-year-old Cruz Cespedes of Jarrettsville
- 20-year-old Dylan Earp of Gambrills
- 19-year-old Elijah Johnson of Crofton
- 18-year-old Zachary Leinemann of Crofton
Police identified the other five suspects involved as:
- 18-year-old Cameron Guy of Baltimore
- 19-year-old Jacob Howard of Elkridge
- 21-year-old Eric Sinclair of Mount Airy
- 19-year-old Patrick Gutierrez of Salisbury
- 20-year-old Dylan Pietuszka of Friendship
According to the police, all 12 students have been charged with first degree assault, false imprisonment, reckless endangerment and associated hate crimes.. There may more be more arrests coming as additional suspects are still being investigated. For more on this shocking story, see the video accompanying this article.
–
(Cover photo, Image credit, Salisbury University, Facebook)
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
Follow Richard on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram
