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Tory Gates, a 45-year-old Brooklyn man, claims to have been hazed by a local fraternity despite being a middle-aged man.
According to reports, Gates, who said he was “drinking heavily” at a Bedford-Stuyvesant brownstone on Friday, December 7 when members of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity allegedly blindfolded him and paddled him.
Gates claims that he was paddled over 200 times by active members of the fraternity as part of a hazing ritual. Following the hazing incident, Gates checked himself into Mount Sinai Hospital and reported the fraternity members to the police.
When police went to investigate the fraternity for the alleged hazing on Friday, December 14, the apartment on Marion Street where the alleged paddling happened was reportedly boarded up and had a chained-off gate.
Additionally, police found a sticker with the phrase “We Black Men Care” pasted on a door of the home.
via New York Post:
Gates’ neighbors — who were stunned that he would go Greek so late in life — said he has two teenage kids.
“A hazing incident? Do you know how old he is?” said one neighbor, who asked not to be named.
“Maybe it’s about nostalgia or something. He’s a strong guy, physically, so I’m not sure what that is all about.”
It wasn’t immediately clear why the victim was pledging or whether the group was linked to a specific college.
The Post reports that there was no university affiliation listed in the police report and that representatives from the Omega Psi Phi fraternity chapter didn’t return calls seeking comment.
Additionally, the New York Police Department, officers were having difficulty getting in touch with the victim as he had failed to answer his phone when police called on Friday, December 14.