Multiple Vigils Held for Iowa Teen

Mourners from across the state of Iowa gathered Thursday evening in memory of Marcellus Andrews, a 19-year-old Waterloo teen who was brutally beaten a week ago and later died of his injuries.

Though Andrews was called “faggot” by assailants, the Waterloo Police Department is not investigating the attack as a hate crime: Lt. Michael McNamee said in a Thursday statement that Andrews’s death “does not rise to the threshold required by Iowa code to indicate a bias-motivated crime.” No arrests have been made in the case.

The Des Moines Register reports that dancers, drummers, and flag bearers for a drill team that Andrews led at a local Baptist church were featured in the Waterloo rally, held on the same block where Andrews was attacked in the early morning of August 19.

 Vigils were also held Thursday evening in Des Moines, Davenport, and other cities across the state.

Read the story here.

Below, video of the Waterloo vigil for Andrews. A memorial Facebook page for Andrews can be found here.