Since the release of a Nov. 5 police report detailing the brutal beating of a gay man, which has since resulted in the arrest and charging of thirteen Salisbury University students, the hate crime has gained media attention throughout the nation. In response to the unfolding situation, a community vigil has been organized for Nov. 11 at 3 P.M., which has garnered mixed opinions among those in the community.

On Oct. 15, 2024, several members of SU’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon branch, a fraternity on campus, falsely imprisoned and viciously beat an adult male who was lured to the house under the pretense of meeting a sixteen year old male off of Grindr, a dating app used primarily by gay and bisexual men. Zachary Leinemann, an 18 year old fraternity brother who was one of the many students involved in the crime, set up the account, according to police.   

The fraternity brothers recorded the incident, which occurred in the 1400 block of University Terrace, an off-campus housing building. The graphic video, which has the caption, “Salisbury boys protecting the streets against P3D0’s” and was originally posted on a TikTok account titled “streetsweeper81” has been viewed thousands of times. The recording begins with the victim sitting on a chair in the middle of the room, reading a piece of paper which the perpetrators have forced upon him. 

Within seconds of the video starting, one of the fraternity brothers hits the victim across the face, shouting, “Louder, b****!” This is immediately followed by one of the students in the room smashing a metal cooking sheet over the victim’s head and another hit across the face.

“Stop hitting me, seriously,” the victim states as he stands up, intent upon leaving, yet is surrounded and assaulted by the men within seconds, shoved to the ground to be further harassed, kicked, spat at and degraded. 

The contents of the video have been described by many as horrific and the act itself has shocked the community. In a string of emails sent to the community in response to the crime, Dr. Carolyn Lepre announced that the Lambda Society, the faculty and staff LGBTQ+ association at SU, has organized a Community Vigil and Unity Walk to be held at 3 P.M. on Nov. 11. 

“Only together can we ensure there is no place for hate, no tolerance for intolerance, and no room for violence,” she said in the email. 

Diana Wagner, who has an Ed. D and teaches Education courses at Salisbury University, is one of the organizers of the community vigil. Through email, she denounced the homophobic and viciously violent behavior displayed by the students involved in the crime. 

“As I understand it, these [fifteen] imbeciles posed as a gay person to lure in a gay person for a beating,” she said. “The vigil on Monday isn’t about the perpetrators or even the victim, it’s about showing SU students we stand with the GLBTQ+ [sic] community and will protect them from this kind of hate-baiting.”

She also made note of the social media attention which this incident has garnered in the past week. 

“The cowards making up conspiracy theories on anonymous social media and the hate mongers trying to capitalize on this heinous turn of events are just as bad as the perpetrators.”

Charles Reigle, an SU student who has been closely following the unfolding situation, believes that the vigil has been put into a complicated situation due to the complexities of the case, yet is satisfied that the school has responded promptly.

“I feel safe seeing how quick the school was to respond and show their support,” he said. “I do feel some uneasiness thinking about how it can be turned around against us in the future, but I think it doesn’t matter because in the end the event is still a perfect opportunity for the university as a whole to come together and heal.”

Concerns over the vigil backfiring in a negative way stem from the fact that the middle-aged victim lured to the house allegedly intended to engage in sexual relations with a 16 year old. The primary intention of the vigil is to foster community healing in response to the hate crime, there are worries that the action could be misconstrued.

An SU professor, who wished to remain anonymous for concern over potential university response, has stated that many LGBTQ students have expressed confusion and concern both to him and other faculty members over how the information was initially communicated on Nov. 5. Many students and faculty were under the impression that the victim was a student, according to the professor.

“Multiple faculty who met with the administration on Friday indicated that the president and other admins essentially admitted that they realize that the publicity is gravely damaging to the university but that they also didn’t seem to have any distinct plan or idea to actually communicate the issue in a more productive and honest way,” he said. “Many faculty, like students, were actually under the impression that an SU student had been the target of the attack until presented with the detailed facts.”

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By COLIN McEVERS

Editor in Chief

Featured image courtesy of The Bury Post