Florida state investigators arrested Marquez Christopher Pinder, 29, a US Secret Service agent, on Sunday, July 27th, 2026, in connection with alleged hazing incidents involving prolonged and repeated beatings with canes and paddles in Miami. Two other men, Jared Lamar James, 26, and Elijah Delano Dyous, 29, were also arrested for allegedly helping orchestrate the beatings. The incidents reportedly occurred in April at an apartment in the Sweetwater district near Florida International University.

Court documents reveal that a University of Miami graduate student and another young man suffered injuries that could have been fatal without medical treatment. According to the Miami Herald, the beatings followed the victims' failure to correctly answer questions related to initiation into the Miami chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi, a historically Black fraternity where Pinder served as a “dean of pledges.”

Miami-Dade county state attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle stated, “In Florida, hazing is abuse and it is a crime. It’s victims too often lie in their graves and in hospital beds.” She also noted that since 2001, fraternity hazing in Florida has resulted in deaths and serious injuries, citing past cases including Robert Chapman, who died after a hazing ritual known as “crossing Bus C” with Florida A&M University’s Marching 100 band.

Separately, days before Pinder’s arrest, a Secret Service spokesperson disclosed that another agent assigned to Vice-President JD Vance’s protective detail was under administrative investigation and potential criminal inquiry for alleged operational and information security compromises.

Sources