ORLANDO, Fla. — Prosecutors have filed charges against 13 people accused of taking part in the beating death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion in Orlando last fall.
Of the 13 defendants, 11 face felony hazing charges, Orange-Osceola State Attorney Lawson Lamar said Wednesday. Lamar said more than 20 misdemeanor charges also were being filed, including at least some involving “different victims who were not seriously injured.”
In a news conference announcing the charges Wednesday, Lamar called Champion’s death following an attack aboard a charter bus on Nov. 19 “nothing short of an American tragedy.”
“I have come to believe that hazing is a term for bullying,” Lamar said. “It’s bullying with a tradition — a tradition that we cannot bear in America.”
