SLED investigating claims that Allendale-Fairfax players were beaten in hazing ritual

South Carolina Law Enforcement Division officials are investigating allegations that two Allendale-Fairfax High School football players were beaten during a hazing ritual while at a football camp the team participated in.

Thom Berry, a SLED spokesman, said officials received the request to investigate the allegations last week.

Shakur Chisolm, who transferred to Allendale-Fairfax from Barnwell High to the play his senior year at his father’s alma mater, alleges that he was among a group of students beaten during football camp.

Dimitrius Drayton is the other student-athlete who claims to have been beaten.

Fatima Zeidan, one of the lawyers representing the players, said at a news conference that the events were “disturbing, unlawful and heartbreaking.”

The acts allegedly occurred the week of Aug. 3 when more than 50 players were at a preseason football camp in Orangeburg.

“They were deliberate acts to degrade freshmen, new students and transfers,” Zeidan said.

Allegedly 15 to 20 upperclassmen kicked, shoved and punched the new student-athletes, and Zeidan said the claims were confirmed by several other unnamed students.

Chisolm, who has been reportedly recruited by Clemson, was taken to the Regional Medical Center in Orangeburg with cuts, scrapes and bruises. An officer with the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety later interviewed Chisolm.

The two teens and their families planned to file a formal complaint with the police, said Justin Bamberg, another attorney involved in the case.

Cliff Chisolm, Shakur’s father, has asked others parents and students involved to “please come forward to stop this.”

Zeidan and Bamberg also are asking for an investigation to be conducted by a third party, such as the S.C. High School League.

Tammie Newman, a SCHSL spokesperson said the organization gets involved only at the request of a school.

Bamberg said he wants Eddie Ford, the head coach, to resign because the events “occurred under his watch with overt blessing.”

However, Bamberg said he has yet to receive any word from any representative from the Allendale-Fairfax school district regarding Ford’s future at the school.

In a statement released by Bamberg and Zeidan, “Shakur Chisolm will attend school and play football for Williston-Elko High School during his senior year. Demetrius Drayton has withdrawn from Allendale-Fairfax High School and will attempt to enroll in a school in a nearby district for his sophomore year. He must first be released from the Allendale-Fairfax School District at next week's board meeting before he is able to continue his education.”

This story was originally published August 13, 2015 at 12:38 PM with the headline "SLED investigating claims that Allendale-Fairfax players were beaten in hazing ritual."