What's happened
Five students from Assumption University face charges after allegedly luring an active-duty military member to campus and assaulting him. The incident, inspired by a TikTok trend, involved accusations of sexual predation and culminated in a physical attack. The arraignment is set for January 16, 2025.
Go deeper
Social Media Influence
- The incident reflects the dangerous implications of social media trends.
- Students attempted to replicate a viral TikTok challenge, which can lead to real-world violence.
Legal Consequences
- The charges include kidnapping, conspiracy, and assault, highlighting serious legal repercussions for the students involved.
- The case raises questions about accountability in online interactions and the consequences of mob mentality.
Institutional Response
- Assumption University condemned the actions, emphasizing their commitment to safety and ethical behavior.
- This incident may prompt universities to reassess their policies regarding student conduct and social media use.
What the papers say
According to the New York Times, the students involved were inspired by the show 'To Catch a Predator,' with one student stating, 'this got out of hand and went bad.' The Independent reported that the group recorded the incident, returning to the building 'laughing and high-fiving.' AP News noted that the victim was in town for a funeral and had no intention of meeting underage individuals, as the woman who invited him claimed to be 18. This discrepancy raises concerns about the motivations behind the students' actions and the potential for misinterpretation in online dating scenarios.
How we got here
The incident occurred on October 1, 2024, when Kelsy Brainard, an 18-year-old student, invited a 22-year-old man to campus via Tinder. The situation escalated as a group of students confronted him, accusing him of being a sexual predator, leading to a physical assault.
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More on these topics
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Christopher Edward Hansen is an American television journalist and YouTube personality. He is known for his work on Dateline NBC, in particular the former segment To Catch a Predator, which revolved around catching potential Internet sex predators using a
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Assumption University may refer to:
Assumption University (Worcester), Massachusetts, United States
Assumption University (Windsor, Ontario), a federated college of University of Windsor, Canada
Assumption University (Thailand)
University of the Assumpti
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TikTok/Douyin is a Chinese video-sharing social networking service owned by ByteDance, a Beijing-based Internet technology company founded in 2012 by Zhang Yiming.
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Worcester is a city, and county seat of, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, Worcestershire, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population was 181,045, making it the second-most populous city in New England after
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Massachusetts, officially known as the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous state in the New England region of the northeastern United States.