<p>A Secret Service agent based in South Florida was arrested on charges that he participated in paddling a new fraternity member so severely that the student suffered kidney damage and nearly died. The arrest was disclosed in court records reviewed by authorities.</p><p>The agent, 29-year-old Marquez Pinder, was booked into a Miami jail on felony counts of hazing, attempted manslaughter, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Prosecutors also charged two other men with the same counts, neither of whom are Secret Service personnel.</p><p>An arrest warrant identified the victim as a University of Miami law student and named the fraternity as Kappa Alpha Psi, which prohibits hazing. The Secret Service placed Mr. Pinder on leave about a month ago, according to his defense attorney, who described the case as “grossly overcharged.”</p><p>The beatings occurred on four occasions at off-campus apartments in April, resulting in severe kidney damage to the victim, as detailed in the warrant. The victim had joined the fraternity’s local chapter as a graduate student, having previously attended the University of Miami as an undergraduate. A second victim sustained similar injuries, according to the warrant.</p><p>The Secret Service did not immediately comment on the charges. The arrest adds to a series of incidents involving agency personnel and has occurred amid broader concerns about security and staffing within the agency.</p><p>Two months earlier, another off-duty agent was arrested on indecent exposure charges, and there have been other related incidents affecting officers in different locations. The prosecutions highlight ongoing concerns about college hazing practices in Florida and nationwide.</p><p>Federal and state actions in recent years have sought to curb hazing, including a 2024 law that requires universities to report hazing incidents annually and to implement student education programs. The Florida hazing statute makes hazing a felony if it results in serious injury or death, even with consent, and has roots in prior fatal incidents tied to fraternity activities.</p><p>In the case at hand, the warrant describes the punishments inflicted, including men being forced to sit in a half squat while paddles were used for discipline, with escalating violence and attempts to conceal the episodes. The health of the primary victim deteriorated, requiring medical intervention and extensive skin grafts for recovery, while a second victim reported similar injuries and was treated for life-threatening conditions.</p><p>Investigators gathered evidence from text messages, surveillance footage at the apartment complex, and photographs of paddles wrapped in tape with markings such as “kaboom” and “kapow” to support the case. </p>
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