TEXAS
A federal grand jury Wednesday charged Daniel Jenkins, 20, and Daryl Henry, 22, with conspiracy to commit hate crimes, kidnapping, and carjacking, officials announced Thursday.
Additionally, Mr. Jenkins was charged with carjacking and brandishing a firearm during crimes of violence.
According to the 15 count indictment—which supersedes a previously filed indictment—members of the conspiracy used Grindr, a dating app for LGBT people, to create fake profiles and pose as gay men interested in “dates” to lure gay men to an apartment complex in Dallas, Texas, in order to commit violent crimes against them.
The crimes included kidnapping, assault, robbery, and carjacking. Members of the conspiracy forced the victims at gunpoint to relinquish their possessions, including their wallets, money, car keys, cars, drivers’ licenses, and identification cards, credit and debit cards, and cellular telephones.
According to the indictment, the conspirators used Grindr to lure nine victims to an apartment complex in Dallas from Dec. 6, 2017, through Dec. 11, 2017.
On Dec. 11, 2017, the conspirators held five victims against their will in an apartment at the complex. Four of the victims were physically assaulted, three were sexually assaulted, and some victims were called gay slurs.
A conspirator also urinated and wiped human feces on at least one victim. The indictment further alleges that Jenkins and Henry caused bodily injury to four victims because of their actual and perceived sexual orientation.
The indictment charges both Jenkins and Henry with kidnapping these four victims and Jenkins with kidnapping two additional victims, carjacking two victims, and using a firearm in connection with the carjackings.
The defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
NOTE:
The FBI’s Dallas Field Office conducted the federal investigation with the assistance and cooperation of the Dallas Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Dana of the Northern District of Texas and Trial Attorneys Rose E. Gibson and Kathryn E. Gilbert of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division are prosecuting the case.