Four charged with hate crimes over Facebook Live attack video
Four people have been charged with hate crimes after a disturbing video circulated on social media showing a young Chicago man apparently tied up and tortured.
Chicago police said they had arrested the suspects seen on the Facebook Live video attacking and taunting the duct-taped man, while yelling racially-charged obscenities.
The man, who was described as mentally-disabled, was taken by the suspects from a Chicago suburb to an area in the southwestern side of the city, and was with them for 24 to 48 hours, police said.
Chicago Police Commander Kevin Duffin announced the hate crimes charges would be applied to the four individuals along with several other offences including aggravated kidnapping, aggravated unlawful restraint, aggravated battery.
"Let me be very clear. The actions in that video are reprehensible," he said at a press conference.
"That, along with racism, have no place in the city of Chicago or anywhere else for that matter, regardless of their race, gender, state of mental health or any other identifying factor.
The police chief defended the delay in pressing hate crimes because they had to be prosecuted "based on facts, not emotions".
Jordan Hill, Tesfaye Cooper, and sisters Birttany, all aged 18, and Tanisha Covington, 24, expressed no remorse in the interviews with police, Duffin said.
Chicago police chief Eddie Johnson earlier described the video as "sickening".
“It makes you wonder what would make individuals treat somebody like that.”
One of the suspects was a school acquaintance of the victim, according to police.
The suspects, who are black, and the victim, who is white, were said to be young adults over 18 years old.
In the video originally posted by one of the arrested perpetrators, the suspects are seen laughing during the assault and yelling racially-charged obscenities.
The alleged attackers are heard on the video saying “f**k Donald Trump” and “f**k white people”.
The victim can be seen squatting in a corner with his mouth duct-taped, and his hands and legs apparently tied up. His clothes are partially cut at one point, he is threatened repeatedly, and a part of his hair is cut down to his scalp causing a bleeding wound.
Authorities said the victim has been released from a hospital.
The four alleged attackers were incorrectly linked to Black Lives Matter in numerous media reports, but the civil rights group has condemned the video and dismissed any connection.
