The new president of the National Rifle Association took part in the 'gruesome" torture of a cat while a student, according to legal documents unearthed by the Guardian.
The news outlet reported that Doug Hamlin was charged with animal cruelty and was ultimately forced to plead no contest while an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan.
According to the report, he and his fraternity brothers captured a pet cat and engaged in "gruesome" torture that involved cutting off the animal's paws before stringing the it up and setting it on fire.
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All of those involved were expelled from the fraternity, which Hamlin was the president of at the time.
District Court Judge S.J. Elden "singled Hamlin out for criticism, saying he could have prevented it from happening as the leader of the fraternity," the report stated.
“Heartlessness must be in the job description to run the NRA,” Nick Suplina of Everytown for Gun Safety told The Guardian. “This revelation shows that the NRA has failed to turn the page on its scandal-plagued leaders and its doom spiral continues with Hamlin at the helm.”
One of the former fraternity brothers came forward to speak about the event to The Guardian and describe his regret.
The student who reported the incident to the police, Shelagh Abbs Winter, is now an active member of Moms Demand Action, a gun safety group trying to stop school shootings. She said that at the time she remembered feeling threatened.
“Once a creep, always a creep,” she said of Hamlin.
