Gay man left with broken leg after fraternity brothers attacked him during party
Police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime
A gay man was left with a broken leg after members of a fraternity attacked him during a party.
Former student Rancel Valdez was waiting for a friend to come out of the bathroom at an off-campus party hosted by the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity from the University of Delaware last Friday.
According to NBC10, a frat brother approached Valdez and told him to leave. When he told the man he was waiting for his friend, the frat member allegedly called him homophobic slurs and pushed him from behind.
Several members of the fraternity joined the man and began to attack Vadez. Footage from the incident shows Valdez being pushed to the ground and beaten by the frat members who broke his leg shortly before his friend helps him.
Speaking to NBC10, Vadez said: “They were just being rude, telling me to leave, calling me names.
“I didn’t even look their way or nothing. They all just came to me,” he added.
Vadez believes the frat members targeted him because he had been wearing pink shorts.
Erica Bunsehuh, who attended the party with Valdez and helped him, said: “He didn’t do anything wrong that day. I ran over. I’m trying to pull these kids off.
“Literally felt like it wasn’t stopping because they were getting pulled off and then someone else would just come over.”
Valdez had to spend two days in hospital and will miss a month of work to recover.
Meanwhile, Univerity of Delaware President Dennis Assanis said in a statement: “This kind of reprehensible behaviour is not tolerated at the University of Delaware. We will take all appropriate measures in the student conduct process to ensure any offenders are held accountable for their actions.”
Newark Police and the University of Delaware Police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.