Police Break Up Fraternity "Ritual" Inside Darkened South Carolina Cemetery

Police last night broke up a “fraternal ritual” in a South Carolina cemetery, chasing 20 Sigma Alpha Epsilon bothers and arresting one fraternity member on a weapons charge.

Cops converged on the Oakwood Cemetery in Spartanburg after receiving a tip that the University of South Carolina Upstate students “would be in the cemetery performing a fraternal ritual,” and that one man was carrying a firearm on his hip, according to a police report.

When cops questioned the SAE chapter president, he claimed that “the fraternity had come out to the cemetery to perform a ritual where they bond and talk.” The details of this “ritual” are not further described in the report.

One frat brother, Caleb Cooke, 21, was arrested for carrying an unlicensed Glock 9mm pistol, which was loaded with 14 bullets. Cooke--who was wearing a peach shirt, khaki trousers, and a blue dress jacket--told officers that “the gun was his father’s.”

Pictured above, Cooke also claimed that he was armed “to protect his ‘brothers’ in his fraternity while they were out in the cemetery.” Again, the report does not reveal what kind of dangers (Zombies? Grave robbers?) the frat brothers could have encountered at 8:45 PM on a Sunday.

Cooke, a criminal justice major, was released from custody this morning on a $5000 personal recognizance bond.