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On March 21, 2023, 19-year-old Georgia teen, Trent Lehrkamp was admitted to Southeast Georgia Health Center in critical condition. Trent was allegedly tortured and hazed by a group of teens, whom he was hanging out with at a party on Saint Simons Island.
A Facebook account called Glynn County Citizens on Patrol posted an image where four boys were posing around Trent, who appeared to have passed out on a chair, with his head slumped to the side while he was covered in substances and items.
The image appears to have been taken on Snapchat. The boys standing behind him in the image were flipping their middle fingers at the camera.
A 10-second video clip was also posted on the same Facebook page which showed Trent Lehrkamp seated in a chair, again with his head slumped over, and a hose trained on him.
About nine other boys could be seen in the footage while one of them faced the camera and said:
“This is dude perfect!”
These clips of the hazing incident left the public outraged. Twitter user @friscochicken called the incident 'sickening'.
Mass outrage breaks out online over Trent Lehrkamp's unconscious photos and video
Trent Lehrkamp’s family and friends said that he was humiliated and tortured by a group of teens at a party on St. Simons Island. Trent’s aunt, Janele Tucker, said:
“It just has made me sick to my stomach. I don’t want to get into details, but he was, I feel, honestly tortured.”
The video, which was shared on Facebook, was taken four days before Trent was hospitalized. Referring to the clip, Tucker said that it just went on to show how those boys had been continuously abusing and mistreating him.
Late Monday night, on March 27, over 100 people assembled outside the Southeast Georgia Health System in Brunswick to demand accountability. One teen present at the gathering said that what happened to Trent Lehrkamp was beyond human.
Another teen described Trent as the sweetest and nicest kid. They added:
“For this to happen to him after everything he’s been through is the worst thing imaginable.”
The vigil was organized by Theawanza Brooks, whose nephew Ahmaud Arbery, a black man, was murdered during a racially motivated hate crime in 2020. People on Twitter have also expressed their disgust at Trent's assailants and demanded justice for the 19-year-old.
Theawanza Brooks accused Glynn County of having a history of corruption. She said that the ones that have money in the community, pay off a lot of such situations. However, Brooks asserted that they were going to fight until they help get Trent Lehrkamp the justice that he deserves.
A spokesperson for the Glynn County Police Department released a statement on Monday night where it said that GCPD continues to investigate the incident. They stated that the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) and the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) have conducted interviews with parties that were involved in the case.
They have obtained statements to proceed with their investigation based on established facts. The teens present in the video footage have been identified and further interrogations are being conducted.
No arrests have been made yet. Trent Lehrkamp has been moved to the Intensive Care Unit in stable condition.
