OSU frat members arrested, charged in dead longhorn incident
AUSTIN, Texas - Photos of a dead longhorn outside an Oklahoma State fraternity shocked the Longhorn nation in December.
"Then they take our mascot and, like, do that," said Gabby Besnard after the discovery. "That's just, like, really ridiculous."
The longhorn had an expletive branded on its side directed at OSU's FarmHouse fraternity.
"I was just, it was so sad to see the videos posted online of the dead longhorn just being like dragged and pulled," said Camilia Veratudela, a UT student. "It was just very disheartening."
Dead longhorn found outside OSU frat house
A dead longhorn was found outside an Oklahoma State University fraternity house Friday morning, this ahead of the Big 12 Championship game this Saturday with OSU taking on the Texas Longhorns. Police have not said whether they believe the incident is related.
Police arrested Bennett Fady, Luke Ackerley, Brody Shelby and Andrew King on Wednesday.
All of them are members of another fraternity at OSU called Alpha Gamma Rho.
The longhorn was found the day before UT and OSU faced off on the field for a Big 12 Championship game, prompting concern from some UT students at the time of the discovery.
"I don't really understand, like to bring animal cruelty into it," said Besnard. "Like, it's just a football game."
Police arrested Bennett Fady, Luke Ackerley, Brody Shelby and Andrew King on Wednesday.
An arrest warrant affidavit said it may have actually been a part of a prank war between the two fraternities.
According to the documents, Bennett Fady discussed dumping the longhorn's body on the FarmHouse lawn with other fraternity members, who discouraged it.
And, surveillance video from the fraternity shows a gap in footage around the time of the incident.
"There was a significant amount of collective lack of cooperation from the alpha gamma rho organization, as it related to the investigation into the incident," said investigators in the court documents.
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All four men are charged with a misdemeanor for unlawfully removing or disposing of a carcass.
Investigators believe the longhorn died from a disease before it ended up branded on the lawn of a fraternity.
All four people involved have pleaded not guilty.
Oklahoma State is holding an internal investigation.
They said they will take appropriate action based on that.