Creepy video from Iowa frat house shows 56 shirtless boys who refused to respond

Footage from a 2024 hazing incident at an American fraternity house has gone viral after being released by the police recently. The video from the University of Iowa’s Alpha Delta Phi frat house was recorded by emergency services who responded to a fire alarm. An investigation into an arrest related to the incident was dismissed, following which the "creepy" video was made available on The CrimePiece YouTube channel and X, garnering nearly 20 million views. It shows 56 male pledges, shirtless and some with blindfolds, in a dirty and dark basement. Pledges in this case are students who are trying to join a fraternity. Hazing is the practice of torturing and humiliating someone, and even forcing them to take up dangerous tasks. It can lead to terrible outcomes and is banned by law in the United States.

The fire responders walked into a dingy basement at the frat house, but there was no blaze. But they were shocked by what they saw: 56 boys, most of them topless, some blindfolded, with ketchup, mustard and alcohol all over them. While that itself looks like a horror scene, what is actually being labelled as "eerie" is the fact that none of them moves or speak when the officers tell them to stop. An officer can be heard saying, “Does anyone want to be forthcoming about what’s going on? Anyone? Because you gotta see it from my perspective, what the f**k did I just walk into?”

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Warning: Disturbing video from University of Iowa’s Alpha Delta Phi frat house

Another student outside the room is told by another officer, "This stops here, guys. This is the police department. This stops here. Who is in charge?" The police tell them to start cleaning up, but they all continue to stand still as a flashlight shines over them in the dingy basement room. Iowa City Police arrested 21-year-old Joseph Gaya for continually interfering with the investigation. The video is reportedly 16 minutes long, but only about two minutes of it is available on X.

Netizens react to hazing video from Iowa Alpha Delta Phi fraternity

University of Iowa Police and the University of Iowa Office of Student Accountability suspended the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity till at least July 1, 2029. Netizens reacting to the video are shocked to see the men acting in this manner. One of them said, “Crazy what men will do for the validation of other men,” with another stating, "I genuinely do not understand frat culture or why it’s still a thing or why it hasn’t changed for the better."

However, some of them found no problem with the footage. A user wrote, “Really what is the big deal here? They are standing in a room blindfolded and it looks like they got mustard squirted on them. Big whoop." Another said, no one was harmed, so is just being weird the problem here. “So I’m curious what the outrage is here. It’s weird and seems cultist, but no one was harmed? Are we at the point of trying to stop people from being weird because it makes others feel uncomfortable? Were they violating laws?”

The Alpha Delta Phi frat has been active since 1832 in most American universities, but the Iowa chapter was founded in 2023.