Pledges of a Florida A&M marching band club known as the Clones were punched or paddled while they played music during a hazing initiation, according to police records released Friday. Four band members were arrested in the beatings and charged with hazing.
It's the latest fallout from a scandal that has rocked the university and its famed Marching 100 band. FAMU's band director had told university police about hazing among the Clones, a group within the band's clarinet section, a police report said.
The hazing took place in "three or four initiation meetings" that began around Sept. 1 in a house about a mile from campus. Five pledges were lined up in order of their height and "forced to exercise, play music, and were either punched, prepped (slapped with both hands on back) and/or paddled," police said.
One of the pledges took photos of her bruises and quit after the first meeting. The police report doesn't say whether she reported the alleged hazing to FAMU officials.
During the initiations, pledges were forced to give money and were pressured to keep exercising "even after exhaustion."
The four students arrested were: Denise Bailey, 22; Brandon Benson, 23; Hakeem Birch, 21 and Anthony Mingo, 22.
They were booked on a misdemeanor hazing charge and released on bail earlier this week. All denied that hazing occurred or said they didn't know about it, according to the police report. None had attorneys as of Friday afternoon.
Benson, who was arrested by Leon County deputies, told investigators the meetings occurred and were coordinated by him and one of the pledges. He confirmed that he and the other three suspects, who were arrested by FAMU police officers, attended the meetings, but that he did not witness any hazing. Bailey, Mingo and Birch denied any knowledge of the meetings or hazing.
Hobbs' spokeswoman Brooke Hobbs said White suspended Bailey from the band last year for missing band rehearsals, but the others were active members in the band.
All the suspects were released Thursday from the Leon County Jail. Bail was set for each at $500, much lower than the amount set for the three students arrested in December in connection with the hazing of Hunter. In that case, Sean Hobson and Aaron Golson's bails were set at $10,000, and James Harris' was set at $2,500.
Assistant State Attorney Eddie Evans said the lower bail amount was set because the new arrests involved a milder case of hazing.
"The first case dealt with serious injury to the victim," he said. "The new cases are misdemeanors. There were no long-term injuries."
In a written statement, FAMU spokeswoman Sharon Saunders encouraged any hazing victim to come forward.
"We will promptly and thoroughly investigate every complaint and seek prosecution for all cases to the fullest extent of the law," Saunders said. "We also do not tolerate retaliation and will take all necessary steps to ensure students coming forward with complaints or participating in an investigation into a complaint can do so without fear of retaliation."
At least four other recent reports of possible FAMU hazing incidents, including Champion's death, remain under investigation.
It's the latest fallout from a scandal that has rocked the university and its famed Marching 100 band. FAMU's band director had told university police about hazing among the Clones, a group within the band's clarinet section, a police report said.
The hazing took place in "three or four initiation meetings" that began around Sept. 1 in a house about a mile from campus. Five pledges were lined up in order of their height and "forced to exercise, play music, and were either punched, prepped (slapped with both hands on back) and/or paddled," police said.
One of the pledges took photos of her bruises and quit after the first meeting. The police report doesn't say whether she reported the alleged hazing to FAMU officials.
During the initiations, pledges were forced to give money and were pressured to keep exercising "even after exhaustion."
The four students arrested were: Denise Bailey, 22; Brandon Benson, 23; Hakeem Birch, 21 and Anthony Mingo, 22.
They were booked on a misdemeanor hazing charge and released on bail earlier this week. All denied that hazing occurred or said they didn't know about it, according to the police report. None had attorneys as of Friday afternoon.
Benson, who was arrested by Leon County deputies, told investigators the meetings occurred and were coordinated by him and one of the pledges. He confirmed that he and the other three suspects, who were arrested by FAMU police officers, attended the meetings, but that he did not witness any hazing. Bailey, Mingo and Birch denied any knowledge of the meetings or hazing.
Hobbs' spokeswoman Brooke Hobbs said White suspended Bailey from the band last year for missing band rehearsals, but the others were active members in the band.
All the suspects were released Thursday from the Leon County Jail. Bail was set for each at $500, much lower than the amount set for the three students arrested in December in connection with the hazing of Hunter. In that case, Sean Hobson and Aaron Golson's bails were set at $10,000, and James Harris' was set at $2,500.
Assistant State Attorney Eddie Evans said the lower bail amount was set because the new arrests involved a milder case of hazing.
"The first case dealt with serious injury to the victim," he said. "The new cases are misdemeanors. There were no long-term injuries."
In a written statement, FAMU spokeswoman Sharon Saunders encouraged any hazing victim to come forward.
"We will promptly and thoroughly investigate every complaint and seek prosecution for all cases to the fullest extent of the law," Saunders said. "We also do not tolerate retaliation and will take all necessary steps to ensure students coming forward with complaints or participating in an investigation into a complaint can do so without fear of retaliation."
At least four other recent reports of possible FAMU hazing incidents, including Champion's death, remain under investigation.
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