Connect with us

Maryland

At Salisbury University, an alleged hate crime shakes LGBTQ students’ sense of safety

Authorities have charged 12 men in connection with attack

Published

on

Supporters participate in a march organized by Salisbury University LGBTQ groups almost a month after an alleged hate crime took place. (Photo by Wesley Lapointe for the Baltimore Banner)

BY ELLIE WOLFE | Gigi Levin said she wasn’t particularly shocked when she heard a group of her classmates had been accused of luring a gay man to an apartment and attacking him.

“This is a problem rooted in our campus culture,” said Levin, a 24-year-old Salisbury University student from Montgomery County. “The administration can help, but ultimately we are responsible for our safety as LGBTQ+ students.”

Levin was one of the first to arrive at a vigil on Monday afternoon, planned by an LGBTQ faculty group after University President Carolyn Ringer Lepre announced in an email to the campus last week that several students been arrested. The Salisbury Police Department charged 12 men, all students between 18 and 21, with first-degree assault, false imprisonment, reckless endangerment and associated hate crimes.

The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

Advertisement
FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM
SIGN UP FOR E-BLAST

Maryland

Man sentenced for raping trans woman at gunpoint in Baltimore County, filming sexual assault

Jalen Green, 23, pleaded guilty to Feb. 11 attack

Published

on

Baltimore County Circuit Judge Nancy M. Purpura on Nov. 20, 2024, sentenced Jalen Green, of Northwest Baltimore, on charges of first-degree rape and use of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence to life with all time suspended but 10 years in prison. (Photo by Ulysses Muñoz of the Baltimore Banner)

BY DYLAN SEGELBAUM | A man who forced his way into a home in Baltimore County, raped at gunpoint a transgender woman and filmed the sexual assault was ordered Wednesday to serve 10 years in prison.

Baltimore County Circuit Judge Nancy M. Purpura described the crime that Jalen Green committed as an “absolutely brutal offense.”

The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

Continue Reading

Maryland

VIDEO: Salisbury University students attack gay man

Suspects recorded homophobic assault; video posted to TikTok

Published

on

(Editor’s note: The accompanying video contains graphic violence and homophobic slurs. Viewer discretion is advised.)

The assault of a gay man by a group of Salisbury University students in Maryland has drawn national media attention since last week. 

So far, 12 men ages 18-21 have been arrested in the brutal attack. The students allegedly lured the man to an apartment because of his “sexual preferences,” according to local police. 

The victim, a male in his 40s, allegedly propositioned someone on Grindr who claimed to be 16 years old, an attorney for one of the suspects told the Baltimore Banner. The age of consent in Maryland is 16. 

Once the victim arrived at the apartment, a group of more than 12 suspects emerged from the bedrooms and attacked, punching, kicking, and spitting on the victim while using anti-gay slurs.

The Washington Blade obtained video of the attack apparently recorded by one of the suspects that was posted to TikTok and circulated among students at Salisbury University. In the video, the victim can be seen being struck from behind while seated in a chair, then repeatedly punched as he tries to flee. The Blade is not identifying the victim and not posting the full video in which the man’s face is clearly visible.

The suspects are charged with first-degree assault, false imprisonment, reckless endangerment, and hate crimes. The suspects are: Cameron Guy, 18, of Baltimore; Jacob Howard, 19, of Elkridge; Eric Sinclair, 21, of Mount Airy; Patrick Gutierrez, 19, of Salisbury; Dylan Pietuszka, 20, of Friendship; Zachary Leinemann, 18, of Crofton; Ryder Baker, 20, of Olney; Bennan Aird, 18, of Milton, Del.; Riley Brister, 20, of Davidsonville; Cruz Cespedes, 19, of Jarrettsville; Dylan Earp, 20, of Gambrills; and Elijah Johnson, 19, of Crofton.

The Banner reported that all 12 students have been suspended along with the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, to which some of the suspects belonged.

Continue Reading

Maryland

Delivery driver found not guilty of murder in fatal shooting of Bel Air trans woman

Meghan Lewis shot two days after Christmas

Published

on

Meghan Lewis of Bel Air was shot and killed Dec. 27, 2023, outside her home. (Baltimore Banner photo)

By CLARA LONGO DE FREITAS | A food delivery driver who fatally shot a trans woman in the parking lot of her Bel Air apartment community last year was found not guilty on Wednesday of first- and second-degree murder.

Brian Delen, 48, of Bel Air, was convicted in Harford County Circuit Court of second-degree assault and use of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence following a trial during which his attorneys argued he acted out of fear and in self-defense when he shot Meghan Lewis.

The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement

Sign Up for Weekly E-Blast

Follow Us @washblade

Advertisement

Popular