The president of the fraternity at the center of the Michael Deng murder trial testified against the members who allegedly carried out the ritual that killed the former pledge.
Daniel Li, president of the Pi Delta Psi chapter at Baruch College, said in court he knew hazing was banned even though it went on regularly, according to The New York Times. Li also testified the fraternity's national organization knew about the ritual that killed Deng, which is called the "glass ceiling."
"In reality, they knew what was going on," Li said.
The glass ceiling ritual entailed blindfolded pledges carrying backpacks filled with sand while members randomly beat and tackled them. A fraternity for Asian-American students, Pi Delta Psi allegedly condoned the ritual meant as a metaphor to represent the glass ceiling Asian-Americans face, The Times reported.
Deng fell and passed out during the ritual about two years ago during a fraternity retreat in the Poconos in Pennsylvania. Authorities determined Deng died from brain damage because the fraternity members delayed contacting emergency services.
37 people were charged in the case, five of whom for third-degree murder: Li, 23; Charles Lai, 24; Kenny Kwan, 26; Raymond Lam, 22; and Sheldon Wong, 23, Reuters noted. During his testimony, Li indicated the fraternity's national office had a calculated approach to handling hazing within its ranks.
Li said Pi Delta Psi had an email address specifically for instances like Deng's, when a pledge was injured during a hazing ritual. He also said the fraternity's leadership publicly condemned hazing while privately condoning it.
Steven Brill, an attorney representing Wong, told The Associated Press after the hearing on Monday the defendants did not commit a crime and are guilty of not making the right call in response to an accident.
"These are scared kids who clearly had no intention to commit any crimes that weekend," he said. "So when this accident occurred, they may have used some bad judgment, but that doesn't mean that they were covering up a homicide."
