Hate crime charges dropped against most Salisbury students in off-campus attack

Prosecutors in Wicomico County are dropping felony assault and hate crime charges against at least 12 of the 15 Salisbury University students charged in an off-campus attack in October.

Misdemeanor false imprisonment and second-degree assault charges remain for most of the defendants, and many trials are set for late January.

The Wicomico State’s Attorney’s Office said in a statement to WJZ investigator Mike Hellgren that prosecutors “reviewed the evidence gathered during the investigation and have charged as appropriate in light of that evidence.”

One defendant, 20-year-old Dylan Pietuszka of Elkton, had more than 50 charges against him thrown out.

Police said the incident, which was caught on video and shared on TikTok, began when Salisbury students used Grindr, a dating app primarily used by gay men, and Snapchat, to lure the victim to an apartment. Police said they posed as a 16-year-old interested in sexual relations with the 40-year-old man.

The now-deleted TikTok video has circulated elsewhere online, showing a group of young men surrounding an older man while he is seated in a chair and hitting him with various items and their fists.

“You’re not going anywhere,” one of the aggressors says as several men surround and grab the victim, pulling him to the ground. As he struggles to get up, his attackers repeatedly punch, slap and kick him.

The young men repeatedly call the older man a slur used against gay men, as well as a “threat to society.”

The age of consent in Maryland is 16.

Steven Rakow, the Ocean City-based attorney for defendant Riley Brister, from Davidsonville, said prosecutors told him they plan to drop hate crime charges against his client at a hearing Friday.

“It’s whittled down to second-degree assault and false imprisonment as far as Riley Brister is concerned,” Rakow said. “With time and distance from the event, I think that clearer heads prevailed, and I think that’s what the state realized at least at this stage — and getting rid of some of those charges they knew they couldn’t prove.”

Rakow said Brister, 20, is “relieved to not have hate crime and felony charges, so we’ll take a look at what evidence the state has.”

Rakow has maintained this is not a hate crime.

Mark DeLancey, the executive director of the Salisbury LGBTQIA+ support organization PFLAG, declined to comment about the dropped charges because he did not have complete information on Thursday’s court hearings, but he told Hellgren in a phone conversation it is wrong to blame the victim.

In a November interview with WJZ, he said, “There’s no reason for something like this to happen just for someone being who they are.”

Salisbury University held a unity event on campus last month.

“We’re here to send a very clear message. We will not tolerate violence. We will not tolerate hate,” Salisbury University President Carolyn Lepere said at the time.

Salisbury University has condemned any acts of hate and suspended the students and the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity chapter.

“They aren’t allowed on campus property. They also can’t take classes at S.U. either online or virtually, and they can’t attend Salisbury University-sponsored events,” school spokesman Jason Rhodes told Hellgren last month.

Rhodes repeatedly said “Hate has no place” at the university.

“These allegations are very shocking and disturbing. We’ve opened up counseling for students who may need support at this time, and we’ve also taken steps toward making sure the LGBTQ community on campus feels supported at this time,” Rhodes said.

The fraternity expelled the students involved in the attack.

“Sigma Alpha Epsilon condemns hate and violence in any form, and we are disappointed that members of our chapter were involved in such an act,” the suburban Chicago-based fraternity wrote in a November statement.

Two students, 18-year-old Zachary Leinemann and 19-year-old Elijah Johnson, both from Crofton, still face hate crime charges that have been moved to circuit court, according to a search of records.

Another defendant, 19-year-old Logan Clark, has a preliminary hearing set for December 12.

Many of the defendants are from the suburban Baltimore area.

Several trials have been set for Jan. 29, 2025.

“We’ll make a determination then as to what posture we’re going to be in, whether the state makes a plea offer that’s acceptable to my client or whether we go to trial and force the state to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt,” Rakow said.

WJZ is a media partner of The Baltimore Banner. Read the original article here.