Chicago Torture Video: Hate Crime Charges In Attack Live-Streamed On Facebook

Four black suspects have been charged with hate crimes in an attack on a mentally disabled white teen that was live-streamed on Facebook, according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Those charged are Jordan Hill, 18, of Carpentersville; and Tesfaye Cooper, 18, Brittany Covington, 18, and Tanishia Covington, 24, all of Chicago.  All four face charges of aggravated kidnapping, hate crime, aggravated unlawful restraint and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Hill, Cooper, and Brittany Covington also face burglary charges. Hill also was charged with robbery and possession of a stolen motor vehicle.

The four were expected to appear in court Friday. It wasn’t immediately clear whether they had lawyers.

The video shows assailants threatening the 18-year-old victim with a knife, cutting off his clothing and forcing him to drink from a toilet. The assault went on for up to two days, until Chicago police found the victim “in distress” walking along a street, authorities said.

The assailants can be heard on the video using profanities against white people and President-elect Donald Trump.

Guglielmi acknowledged that the suspects made “terrible racist statements” during the assault, but he said the investigation showed that the victim was targeted because he has “special needs,” not because of his race.

It’s also possible that the suspects were trying to extort something from the victim’s family, he said. CBS Chicago reports the suspects contacted the victim’s family during the kidnapping.

The victim was a classmate of one of the attackers and initially went with that person voluntarily, police said. Police said the victim’s parents had dropped him off at a McDonald’s in Streamwood, and then the suspects brought the victim to Chicago in a stolen van, and tortured him for possibly up to 48 hours, the station reports.

“He’s traumatized by the incident, and it’s very tough to communicate with him at this point,” police Cmdr. Kevin Duffin said.

Excerpts of the video posted by Chicago media outlets show the victim with his mouth taped shut slumped in a corner as at least two assailants cut off his sweatshirt and others taunt him off camera. The video shows a wound on the top of the man’s head, and one person pushes the man’s head with his or her foot. A red band also appears to be around the victim’s hands.

Off-camera, people can be heard using profanities about “white people” and Trump. At least one woman is shown in the video.

During much of the video, the victim does not appear to make any attempt to defend himself or to escape his attackers.

A second video, which surfaced on Twitter, showed the suspects grabbing the teen’s head, shoving it into a toilet, and forcing him to drink, reports CBS Chicago.

The victim is a suburban Chicago resident described by Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson as having “mental health challenges.”

Johnson described the video as “sickening.”

“It makes you wonder what would make individuals treat somebody like that,” he said Wednesday at a news conference.

The grandmother of a young woman associated with the video said the granddaughter she raised from infancy is “not this person.”

“I’m so upset, my head is about to bust open,” said Priscilla Covington of Chicago. “I don’t know if someone influenced her ... She had her ups and down. (She) was a good person. I’m so confused.”

The investigation began Monday after officers found a man “in distress” and “in crisis” walking on a street on the West Side, Capt. Steven Sasso said.

The man was taken to a hospital, and it was later discovered that he had been reported missing from an unidentified suburb.

At about the same time, police took several people into custody at a nearby address where they found signs of a struggle and property damage. Investigators determined that the missing man had been at the same address.

Asked Wednesday about the racial comments on the video, Duffin said the four people in custody were “young adults, and they make stupid decisions.”

When considering a potential hate crime charge, investigators will have to determine whether the racial remarks were “sincere or just stupid ranting and raving,” Duffin said.

The video emerged at a time when police dealings with Chicago’s black community are being closely watched. Less than a year ago, the nation’s third-largest police force was sharply criticized by a task force for using excessive force and honoring a code of silence.

The department has also been the subject of a long civil-rights investigation by the Justice Department, which is expected to report its findings soon.

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