12 college students charged with hate crimes after luring victims using Grindr

Twelve college students have been charged with hate crimes after brutally attacking a man in an off-campus apartment.

Salisbury University students allegedly targeted a man and lured him off campus so they could team up and beat him. They are accused of assault, false imprisonment and hate crimes because the authorities believe that the attack was due to the victim's sexuality.

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One of the defendants created a fake Grindr dating app account of a 16-year-old boy to lure the victim to an apartment. The legal age of consent in Maryland is 16 in most cases, and the age of the assault victim is unclear.

Steve Rakow, a lawyer for one of the defendants, claimed the attack was not based on prejudice. “Let me be clear: This is not a hate crime,” he said in an email.

Rakow also claimed the victim did not report the incident because he knew he had tried to sleep with a teenager. Instead, witnesses came forward after seeing a video of the beating.

The victim, however, claimed that she “never informed law enforcement about the attack out of fear for her safety due to retaliation and threats from the attackers,” court documents said.

According to police, the 12 students forced the man onto a chair where they punched, slapped, kicked and spit on him. They also insulted him and stopped him from leaving.

Salisbury University officials suspended all students involved and are now cooperating with law enforcement. They said the university “condemns all acts of violence.”

University President Carolyn Ringer Lepre also said she is creating a special task force on LGBTQ+ inclusivity.

“Our community is suffering from an act of deep-seated hatred,” she said in a statement. “We are witnessing a campus filled with fear that something so unspeakable could happen within the community we all love.”