‘Satanic ritual’? Viral video shows dozens of blindfolded, shirtless young men in basement: Social media reacts in shock

Newly-released body-camera footage shows how police stopped a ‘ragging’ incident at the University of Iowa in November 2024. The video, recently shared online, captured officers entering the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity's basement.

They found 56 young men blindfolded, many shirtless and standing close together. Some appeared to have unknown white, brown and yellow substances on their bodies.

Hazing (more commonly known as ragging for Indians) involves humiliating or risky treatment of new members. It is strictly banned by the university. It is also illegal under Iowa state law.

In the footage, an officer expressed shock at the scene and asked the group to explain what was happening. Police tried to question those present, but most gave little useful information.

"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?" the officer wonders.

Officers then made it clear that the activity had to end immediately. One officer told the group that the police department was in charge. He ordered them to remove their blindfolds and start cleaning the area.

"I’ve already given multiple commands to clear the room and get out of here, but no one's moving. Clearly, they’re taking this pretty seriously," the officer said.

Police, who had responded to a fire alarm, later spoke to the fraternity's person in charge outside the building. Officers said students had refused to evacuate when asked. They also noted that no one inside was willing to explain what was happening.

"We responded to a fire alarm. We were trying to get people to evacuate because of the fire alarm, but from my understanding, you guys refused," an officer said.

"Then, on top of that, we find this hazing event, and we want to speak to somebody. Nobody knows anything, nobody knows anyone. Nobody knows what’s going on. This is going in a report. The University of Iowa is going to see this," he added.

Following the incident, Alpha Delta Phi fraternity was suspended in May 2025 for four academic years until 2029. Joseph Gaya, not a university student, was the only person arrested and was charged with interference with official acts. However, the charges were later dropped.

Social media reaction

Social media reacted to the YouTube video, uploaded on 17 February.

“The next generation of politicians,” came a sarcastic comment.

“18-19-year-olds letting a 20-21-year-old abuse them to be accepted in a friend group. I never understood that,” posted another user.

Another user wrote, “I’m no detective, but the guy who lost his voice from screaming is likely the guy in charge.”

“This is what parents are spending their life savings on,” came from another.

“Someone in the house pulled that fire alarm to stop this insanity,” another reacted to the viral video.

Another user wrote, “Man, I would be so disappointed if my son were involved in this weird stuff.”

“This is how it starts. Rituals, then they take photos of you being humiliated, then when you get in the real world, they do another ritual, then all of a sudden, you're in the e files,” commented another user, apparently hinting at Epstein Files.

Another user wrote, “What in the cultist ritual shit is going on anyway?”

“What in the satanic ritual is going on down there?” wondered another.