US Secret Service agent among three charged over alleged violent fraternity hazing

A US Secret Service agent is among three people who have been arrested in Florida for allegedly beating University of Miami fraternity members in a suspected violent hazing incident.

The agent, Marquez Pinder, 29, has been charged alongside Lamar James, 26, and Elijah Delano Dyous, 29, with hazing, attempted manslaughter and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, according to court records.

One person, a law student, suffered kidney failure because of the alleged beatings and needed surgery, an arrest warrant obtained by US media states. A second person was also hospitalised.

Pinder has been placed on administrative leave, Michael Townsend, the head of the agency’s Miami field office, said.

The BBC has contacted Pinder’s lawyer for comment.

The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office said the alleged hazing incidents lasted for four days at several off-campus residences.

“An investigation revealed evidence of alleged hazing incidents involving prolonged and repeated beatings with canes and paddles,” the attorney’s office said in a statement.

“A failure to correctly answer questions about the fraternity, allegedly led to the beatings.”

The arrest warrant states that if the first victim had not received emergency medical care, “his injuries would have resulted in renal failure leading to death”, and that he still suffers from extreme pain as a result of the beatings.

The two victims were reportedly attempting to join the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.

According to the warrant, Pinder was named the “dean of pledges” – the officer who oversees education for new members – for the fraternity at the University of Miami’s Coral Gables campus.

Townsend said the Secret Service “takes seriously any criminal allegations involving one of our employees” and that it was “fully cooperating with the investigation”.

In recent years, prosecutors have charged a number of people for their involvement in hazing, including a Pennsylvania college football coach earlier this month.

State Attorney Kathrine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement that in Florida, “hazing is abuse and it is a crime”.

“Its victims too often lie in their graves and in hospital beds,” she added.