University of Delaware students demanding action against gender-based violence held protests this week after the arrest of a student accused of kidnapping and attacking an ex-girlfriend. Police say Brandon Freyre, 20, allegedly held a fellow student captive in his off-campus Newark apartment for around four hours early last Friday, the Newark Post reports. According to a police statement, he "struck the victim with blunt objects, sprayed her in the eyes with spray paint and threatened to kill the victim if she contacted police. He next strangled her to unconsciousness." Police say the woman fled the building after Freyre threw her down a flight of stairs.
The woman called police and was treated at a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries including severe cuts and bruises on her face. The university says Freyre, who was arrested Friday and later released on bond, is "officially separated" from the school and is banned from campus, CBS reports. The Kappa Delta Rho fraternity said Tuesday that his membership has been permanently revoked over the "heinous" attack. Investigators say the attack occurred after Freyre and the victim argued over her attendance at a rival fraternity's party, ABC 6 reports. According to charging documents, Freyre's roommates were home at the time of the attack.
Protesters took to the streets Wednesday, carrying signs with slogans including "real men protect women" and "we demand a safer campus," the student-run Review reports. They criticized the university for remaining silent on the incident before a Tuesday night statement and called for changes including sexual assault prevention training for fraternities. University officials "did not speak up on the issue or say anything to our university body until after it had national attention, it was too little too late," said protest organizer Keira Spann. (More University of Delaware stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
