US college players charged in anti-Muslim beating

AFP, CHICAGO: Five football players at a private US Christian college have been charged in connection with a hazing incident that allegedly included anti-Muslim taunts and left a student with injuries requiring surgeries.

The football players at Wheaton College, located in a Chicago suburb, were charged with aggravated battery, unlawful restraint and mob action, the prosecutor's office told AFP on Tuesday.

Almost all of the charges are felonies, with the most serious carrying a sentence of two to five years in prison, DuPage County States Attorney spokesman Paul Darrah said.

The accused are currently listed as members of Wheaton's football team -- one of the top US collegiate football programs: James Cooksey, Kyler Kregel, Benjamin Pettway, Noah Spielman and Samuel TeBos.

They are accused of abducting a freshman teammate in 2016, beating him and leaving him with two torn shoulders that required surgeries, according to the Chicago Tribune, which cited unreleased investigative documents.

The victim, unidentified to protect his privacy, told investigators he was held down in a car while his abductors attempted to sodomize him with an object and then beat him, the newspaper reported.

The student also claimed Middle Eastern music was playing in the car while the abductors made offensive comments about Muslims “who wanted to fornicate with goats,” the Tribune said.

The student told the newspaper the incident had had “a devastating effect on my life.”

US college players charged in anti-Muslim beating

AFP, CHICAGO: Five football players at a private US Christian college have been charged in connection with a hazing incident that allegedly included anti-Muslim taunts and left a student with injuries requiring surgeries. The football players at Wheaton College, located in a Chicago suburb, were charged with aggravated battery, unlawful restraint and mob action, the prosecutors office told AFP on Tuesday. Almost all of the charges are felonies, with the most serious carrying a sentence of two to five years in prison, DuPage County States Attorney spokesman Paul Darrah said. The accused are currently listed as members of Wheatons football team -- one of the top US collegiate football programs: James Cooksey, Kyler Kregel, Benjamin Pettway, Noah Spielman and Samuel TeBos. They are accused of abducting a freshman teammate in 2016, beating him and leaving him with two torn shoulders that required surgeries, according to the Chicago Tribune, which cited unreleased investigative documents. The victim, unidentified to protect his privacy, told investigators he was held down in a car while his abductors attempted to sodomize him with an object and then beat him, the newspaper reported. The student also claimed Middle Eastern music was playing in the car while the abductors made offensive comments about Muslims who wanted to fornicate with goats, the Tribune said. The student told the newspaper the incident had had a devastating effect on my life.