Students from the University of Iowa are shown being subjected to a strange hazing ritual. Video / UI Police
Police footage has been released online of a bizarre hazing scene where students were half naked and covered in condiments.
In newly released video, 56 students were found in a dark and dirty basement covered in what is thought to be tomato sauce, mustard and alcohol, reported callout, a localnews channel.
University of Iowa’s Alpha Delta Phi fraternity was banned for five years after police exposed the distressing hazing act.
Students often have to go through an initiation to become a member of a fraternity. Many of the rituals are harmless, like cleaning, community work, or reciting a loyalty pledge, but occasionally fraternities involve humiliation, also known as hazing.
Emergency services were responding to a call-out when they discovered the students in November 2024. The bodycam footage was obtained and uploaded to YouTube this week by The CrimePiece.
In the video, the male students are mostly shirtless and blindfolded. When the police spoke directly to the victims they initially refused to move or speak.
“Does anyone want to be forthcoming about what’s going on? Anyone? Because you gotta see it from my perspective of, ‘What the f*** did I just walk into?’” a cop says in the video.
The police then question a male who was not being hazed to understand what is going on. He refuses to give the officers his last name then offers his ID card, saying, “I think it’s fake”.
Viewers of the video were disturbed by the eerie scenes.
“This looks like a scene from a horror movie, wtf. All just standing still in the dark like that,” said one.
A man gives police his fake ID as identification. Photo / YouTube The CrimePiece
“Honestly, I feel like those cops were just so freaked out they didn’t even know where to start,” said another.
The footage has blown up online. Within 24 hours copies of the video has racked up over 30 million views on TikTok, YouTube and X.
In response, the University of Iowa said it was committed to protecting the health and safety of its students and “will address any behavior that puts student safety at risk”.
Iowa City Police arrested Joseph Gaya, 21, for interfering with its investigation. Charges against Gaya were later dropped. It is unclear why charges were dropped.
