US Catholic University Students Charged for Beating a Man They Falsely Accused as a 'Predator'
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Students of a Roman Catholic school, the Assumption University in Massachusetts, have been charged with allegedly beating up a man as part of a viral TikTok challenge.
The TikTok challenge in question was inspired by the TV show 'To Catch a Predator,' which challenges purported child predators.
According to police, as shared by NBC Boston, the five students, with the help of a minor, had allegedly used the Tinder dating application to lure the man to campus under false pretenses on October 1. It later emerged that the man was innocent and was wrongly accused.
Court papers show the students were spreading a story to 30 others, alleging the man intended to meet a minor. Upon arriving, he was cornered, followed, and assaulted as he made a dash to get out in his car. The man said, while in town for his grandmother's funeral, that he harbored no bad intent but needed human companionship. There was no credible reason in their version to sustain such allegations, given discrepancies between what each student was telling the detectives.
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Charges Against Assumption University Students
Assumption University made a statement deploring the incident and urged its students to exercise sound judgment. CBS News shared that the university assured the public that they were conducting a thorough investigation on the case assisted by their public safety team. However, the private Catholic school was not open with the disciplinary measures it imposed upon the accused students.
The experts have also criticized the problematic combination of social media trends and vigilante behavior. Emerson College professor David Gerzof Richard cautioned that this is something that should be left to professionals because such amateur interventions will eventually lead to harming people.
The ordeal of the victim points out the risk of internet-fueled trends, which encourage people to deal with justice in their own hands.
The five students are scheduled to appear in court on January 16.
