Iowa Alpha Delta Phi: Moment police uncover almost 60 blindfolded men in basement in bizarre ‘hazing’ act
Body cam footage has revealed the moment police officers discovered 56 shirtless men in the basement of a frat house in a bizarre hazing incident.
Disturbing footage was released on Tuesday, showing the moment police walk in on 56 blindfolded men in the dark basement of an Iowa fraternity house.
The incident took place at the University of Iowa’s Alpha Delta Phi fraternity in November 2024, where authorities responded to a fire alarm, only to uncover what appeared to be an illegal hazing ritual.
The strange footage, which has amassed millions of views on social media, shows 56 male pledges – a new member who has accepted a bid from a fraternity but has not yet been initiated – blindfolded in the basement, many of them shirtless and covered in food.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.In the video, police officers can be heard yelling out to the students only to be met with eerie silence.
“This stops here guys. This is the police department,” one officer said. “Who is in charge?”
Still, the men refused to move or speak.
Police then speak with two men, who appear to not have been involved in the ritual themselves, who claimed that their “house dad” was in charge, but not home at the time.
According to WQAD, a 21-year-old Riverdale man, Joseph Gaya, was arrested at the house for interfering with official acts.
Arrest records claim he stood in the doorway and refused to move after cops asked him to do so, the outlet reports.
The charges were dropped in November 2025. He did not live at the fraternity house, nor was he a University of Iowa student, according to a statement from the University of Iowa.
The statement outlined that the fraternity chapter had been suspended until further notice.
“The University of Iowa has placed a fraternity chapter on interim suspension while investigating a potential incident of hazing,” the statement read.
“The UI Office of Student Accountability (OSA) has notified the president of Alpha Delta Phi that it must suspend all operations pending the outcome of the investigation due to the gravity of the allegations.”
Hazing is a criminal offence in Iowa, carrying a maximum penalty of one year in jail.
