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Alleged Chicago torturers charged with aggravated kidnapping, hate crime

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* Not even Tarantino could come up with something this vile and nightmarish…

Two men and two women have been charged with a hate crime, after allegedly kidnapping an 18-year-old mentally challenged man, torturing him for up to two days, and posting videos of the torture online.

Jordan Hill, 18; Tesfaye Cooper, 18; Brittany Covington, 18; and Tanisha Covington, 24, have been charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated unlawful restraint, aggravated battery, and hate crime, according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office. Hill also was charged with robbery and possession of a stolen motor vehicle. Hill, Cooper, and Brittany Covington also were charged with residential burglary.

Police have said the 18-year-old victimized in the videos is a northwest suburban resident with special needs who had been reported missing. The four suspects are black. The victim is white.

In the first 30-minute video, which apparently was posted live on Facebook on Tuesday, the victim is backed into a corner, his mouth duct-taped shut. The victim’s clothes were cut, he was peppered with cigarette ashes, and then his hair cut with a knife until his scalp bled.

Several people can be seen laughing and eating during the attack, in addition to making disparaging remarks about President-elect Donald Trump and using racially charged language. At one point, while the victim is backed into a corner, someone is heard shouting “F*** Donald Trump. F*** white people.”

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.

Man, that town.

Man.

* Sun-Times…

All four face charges of aggravated kidnapping, hate crime, aggravated unlawful restraint and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, according to the state’s attorney’s office. Hill also faces charges of robbery, residential burglary and possession of a stolen motor vehicle. Cooper and Brittany Covington are also charged with residential burglary. […]

Community activist Andrew Holmes said of the incident: “In so many ways this was a hate crime because of what they said to him — saying he’s with Trump. When you make a person say, ‘I love black people,’ that’s a hate crime all the way.”

Holmes said he hopes the video doesn’t provoke a racial backlash in Chicago.

“Let the chips fall where they may, and let the judicial system work,” he said.

In November, the day after the election, an online video showed a man being attacked in the North Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side, while bystanders taunted him, saying he had voted for Donald Trump.

Eventually, four people were charged in connection with that attack.

* ABC 7…

Chicago police said the victim encountered one of the suspects on Monday - apparently someone he’d met before - and he was driven into the city. They did not say which suspect that was.

“He is an acquaintance of one of these subjects. They stole a van and brought him to Chicago,” Area North CPD Commander Kevin Duffin said Wednesday.

* Earlier from the Tribune…

“It’s sickening. It makes you wonder what would make individuals treat somebody like that,” [Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson] said. “I’ve been a cop for 28 years and I’ve seen things that you shouldn’t see. It still amazes me how you still see things that you just shouldn’t.

“I’m not going to say it shocked me but it was sickening,” he said.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:02 pm

Comments

It is a hate crime for certain. These thugs need to be imprisoned. I saw the video and it was barbaric.

Comment by W Flag Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:04 pm
No words. So disturbing.

Comment by Flynn's mom Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:07 pm
This crime is sick and pure evil. The law got the charge right. This is a pure hate crime. We MUST stop the break down of society and keep rule of law.

Comment by Rocky Rosi Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:08 pm
I will not watch. My older brother has a developmental disability and I have enough bad memories of how he used to be treated (and sometimes still is). I am outraged.
The thought that we have a president-elect who mocked a disabled reporter on TV sours my stomach.

Comment by illinoised Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:09 pm
They deserve a prison cell, but easy on the “thug” usage here. There’s a lot behind that word reflecting more than just the individuals in this situation.

Comment by Stark Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:12 pm
It’s horrifying.

Those teenagers deserve to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and that young man is going to need a lot of help to recover from what’s been done to him, if he is to recover at all.

I’m not going to watch the video. I’d have nightmares.

Comment by Aldyth Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:13 pm
Looks like 3 of them picked a bad time to turn 18, facing a Class X felony and then some. Utterly disgusting act.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:14 pm
I’m not going to watch the video and would encourage others to refrain as well. There’s a reason they filmed it and I’m not going to indulge them. I will only be content with the longest of long jail sentences with a cellmate whose brother is developmentally disabled.

Comment by Name/Nickname/Anon Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:17 pm
I’m normally all for rehabilitation. I generally believe that most people can change for the better. But after watching that, I’m not sure that much hate can be fixed.

Lock’em up & throw away the key.

Comment by Chicago_Downstater Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:22 pm
People with special needs often lack social filters which can leave them very trusting when it comes to their connections with others. They want friends and to be included like we all do. The “previous acquaintance” who apparently got him directly into harm’s way by bringing him to Chicago and putting him at the mercy of the other sickos who together orchestrated this horrible nightmare is the worst of them all, IMO. It is really not possible to ignore the racial aspects of this crime and the police and prosecutors must act accordingly.

Comment by Responsa Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:22 pm
–Man, that town.–

Seriously? Most days, some shocking act or acts of barbarism makes international headlines (they’re staples of the NY tabs and Drudge). Geography doesn’t seem to have much to do with it. Individual monsters can and do pop up anywhere.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:37 pm
My heart aches for humanity when I read something like this. For these ‘people’ to use a disabled person unable to defend himself as the scapegoat for their hatred towards Trump/white people is as cowardly as it gets. They should’ve at least had the courage to direct their hatred towards someone who had a fighting chance of defending themselves.

I agree with Chicago_Downstater that there’s no rehabilitating these individuals. They should never be allowed back into society with that kind of darkness in their souls.

Comment by Cubs in '16 Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:38 pm
I’ll say this, certain charges were never in question here when they would be in other cases.

Comment by Precinct Captain Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:38 pm
CNN’s Don Lemon saw the video (I won’t watch it, based on what I’ve read here). But Lemon has said, “I don’t think it was evil.”
Somebody’s wrong.

Comment by Downstate Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:41 pm
===Somebody’s wrong===

I watched the vids. If Lemon said that, he’s wrong.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:42 pm
“They deserve a prison cell, but easy on the “thug” usage here”

Seems perfectly appropriate to me…..heaven forbid these 4 criminals have their feeling hurt.

Comment by SmokeyBear Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:42 pm
Let’s see.$60k/yr/inmate. 60 yrs x 4. I can think of a much cheaper means of rehabilitation, but it is not very politically correct.

Comment by blue dog dem Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:46 pm
–If Lemon said that, he’s wrong.–

He should probably focus on reporting and lay off the tequila shots.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:47 pm
===Man, that town. ===
At first I was agreeing 100% with Word about your statement. Its not just Chicago and definitely not anywhere near all of Chicago. But then I read this:
===“I’m not going to say it shocked me but it was sickening,” he said.===
I live in the city and I can say Eddie said exactly how I felt. And maybe that’s the problem. I’m not shocked anymore. By this or the other daily crimes. Sickened yes. But then my sickness goes away because I just go on with my life. Maybe we are just not realizing that pit in our stomachs is a much worse disease than we think.

Comment by Been There Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:50 pm
@Ron Burgundy- Exactly my initial thoughts upon seeing the excerpt of the video and hearing the arrested were 18. Duffin originally called them kids, then realizing immediately they are legally adults, identified them as such.
This is the second such attack in Chicago that I’m aware of, the first being in Nov. shortly after the election. The video showed attackers beating a white man outside his car, allegedly for voting for Trump.

Comment by Slippin' Jimmy Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:54 pm
Here is the full nonsensical Lemon quote:

“I don’t think it’s evil,” Lemon replied. “I don’t think it’s evil. I think these are young people and I think they have bad home training. I say, who is raising these young people? I have no idea who’s raising these young people. Because no one I know on earth who is 17 years old or 70 years old would ever think of treating another person like that. It is inhumane. And you wonder, at 18 years old, where is your parent? Where’s your guardian?”

Comment by Responsa Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 1:56 pm
what has happened to common civility towards other human beings? All lives matter… this is the second one of these in the last month or so the traffic incident on the street where the same type thing happened

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 2:00 pm
– Man, that town –

Yep, unfortunately. To ignore the almost unrelenting violence occurring in Chicago these days would require intentional indifference or worse.

Chicago is in crisis, and so is Illinois. They may be different types of crisis … but maybe they have some connectivity after all. Either way, our societal problems are gargantuan.

Comment by Deft Wing Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 2:02 pm
This display of behavior was grotesque. If you treated an animal this way, you would be prosecuted. It’s that inhumane. Worse than the normal definition of a “Hate Crime”.

These 4 young “adults” who did this, for 2 days mind you, are cross-wired in a pretty serious way. What we clearly see as a Hate Crime; they considered “recreation”.

Beyond sick. This is proof that there are people out there who are a hair trigger away from acting so utterly irrational and inhumane. So maybe some of the nutty rhetoric out there that could inspire these very unstable personalities should come under review.

After watching this video, I’m convinced these sadistic young people had no idea the depth of their depravity. I’d be willing to bet they still don’t…and I’d double down on ‘they never will’.

Revolting.

Comment by A guy Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 2:05 pm
Was Lemon sober when he made his comments? What a fool he made of himself New Year’s Eve. Lotta credibility coming out of his mouth….

Comment by Joe Schmoe Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 2:16 pm
I’d caution anyone about injecting politics or drawing broad conclusions as to crime or humanity from this horrible act of evil.

I was a cop reporter for 10 years. Many horrible acts of evil never make the news because there’s no “hook,” no “twist,” that will “sell.” That is just the nasty and incontestable fact of crime reporting. And why I finally got out.

This one has it all. Race. Torture. Trump. All in a 30-minute open-source click-bait video bound to horrify and outrage.

That sells. It’s journalistic license to post a snuff film and count the clicks.

If there wasn’t video, and it was four homeless dudes beating another homeless dude to death, maybe three sentences, if there’s space to fill. If not, forget it. Believe it.

Comment by words linger Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 2:17 pm
I have a Daughter and a Son with developmental disabilities. I could not watch much of the video and will not watch any of it again. I cannot express the sadness I feel for the young man and his family. This hit me deeply.

As for the ones who live streamed this, I feel no sympathy for them and hope a jury will not fail the young man.

I have nothing printable to say about the alleged attackers.

Comment by FormerParatrooper Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 2:25 pm
Right Jimmy. The Hate Crime charge is the politically sensitive one, but it’s not the big issue here, it’s how they get around the aggravated kidnapping with great bodily harm armed with a dangerous weapon which gets the up to 30 years that’s more important. With that video that one seems open and shut and the hate crime would just tack on to that.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 2:27 pm
Looks like ISIS to me.

Comment by Central Illinois Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 2:36 pm
If you happen to watch the video the girl filming said at one point that her little sister didn’t like what they were dong and said it was wrong or something to that effect.

The reason that disturbs me is that many are often quick to blame terrible behavior and actions on the offender’s upbringing/environment. How is it then that the YOUNGER sister knew it was wrong. Hard to blame the upbringing in this case.

Comment by CrazyHorse Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 2:54 pm
Perfect backdrop for Obama final speech . His “hometown” of hopes and dreams? Oh and a new golf course !

Comment by Railrat Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 2:57 pm
That they did it is sickening. That they thought it was something for them to show off on social media, is scary. Who was their audience, whom they expected to impress or entertain?

Comment by walker Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 2:59 pm
Hope and change.

What we didn’t get.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 3:14 pm
Railrat, how would you describe your state of mind when you take an evil act committed against a real fellow human being and use it for pathetic attempts at partisan political “humor?”

All kinds of sickness in this world, son.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 3:29 pm
Wordslinger has it right. The degeneration of all things ‘decent’ - behavior, ethics, morals, et.al. - is undeniable in my view. Newspaper coverage follows that same downward spiral. Now, what used to be National Enquirer tripe is mainstream headlines. There are many, many causes/reasons for the ‘Slouching Toward Gomorrah’, but you whistle past the graveyard if you deny the truth.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 3:42 pm
This incident shows that yes, Evil does exist in this world. There is no other explanation for actions like this. As Wordslinger piinted out there are many more acts of evil everyday that are under or not reported by any media. Until the evil that exists in this area, and many others across the world, is driven out we will see more of the same.
But remember as we comment about it, evil can not defeat evil. More hate can not defeat hate. That only allows more evil and hate to grow.
Also, to rehablilitate someone they have to have been habilitated to begin with.

Comment by SOIL M Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 3:48 pm
Rich, can you tell from the video if those 3 awful people were so high on drugs that they did not understand what they were doing? Not that drugs would make it right, but it might explain why.

Comment by MAMA Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 4:28 pm
Pete Seeger wrote “This Machine Surrounds Hate and Forces it to Surrender” on his banjo. Whatever good it does we’ve got to keep playing.

Comment by 37B Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 4:28 pm
MAMA @ 4:28… Self induced diminished capacity is not, nor should it be, an excuse for criminal behavior considered under the law. Charge them accordingly based on their individual and collective actions. The street thug mentality of chi-town has to be taken under control or the place will burn.

Comment by the Cardinal Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 4:40 pm
per CNN’s Don Lemon, “Bad home training”
What exactly does that mean?
Sounds like the excuse for a miscreant puppy.

Comment by Downstate Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 4:45 pm
Downstate, who here, exactly, is supposed to answer for Don Lemon and why?

Some of you all have your daily axes to grind, I get it. But do you really need to employ this horrible crime against this man to do it?

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 4:53 pm
Word,
I didn’t know rhetorical questions weren’t allowed here. /s/

Comment by Downstate Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 4:55 pm
They do this because they think it is ok. Our current president - who many on this site adore - has rolled out the red carpet for them. They know the president and the left will NOT hold them responsible. Boy are most of us glad this left nightmare will be ending VERY SOON!

Comment by Leert Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 4:57 pm
Is it me or are there a lot more extreme commenters recently? I too won’t watch the video and it’s saddening regardless of where such hate crimes happen. I think it’s a legitimate question why social media sites would allow posting of a crime; that to me is a more productive discussion to have.

Comment by Veil of Ignorance Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 5:05 pm
I know this will not be a popular sentiment, but 3 18 year olds? People that age do not have a fully developed brain, and often do terrible and inexplicable things. Even THEY don’t understand why they do them. They need to be punished but I don’t think the “throw away the key” mentality is appropriate.

Comment by NoGifts Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 5:17 pm
=- the Cardinal - Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 4:40 pm: =

The reason I asked if they were on drugs is because they are 18 year old kids. I’m trying to understand how any 18 year olds can have that much hate in them.

Comment by MAMA Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 5:30 pm
The video is on the national news tonight. That is not good.

Comment by MAMA Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 5:31 pm
–They do this because they think it is ok. Our current president - who many on this site adore - has rolled out the red carpet for them. They know the president and the left will NOT hold them responsible.–

I’m not not following your connections or reasoning. Perhaps you could expand on how you landed there.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 5:46 pm
Thugs Monsters Racists Criminals They are all that. and, no, they are not all 18 years old, besides, is 18 the new 12? Don Lemon, suspend yourself.

Let us just imagine if the races were reversed in this situation. there would not just be a media firestorm, there would be huge marches. A few weeks ago, another group of individuals on the West Side pulled aside a person and beat them, yelling things about Trump. This is all bad. Very bad. In every way.

Comment by Amalia Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 5:47 pm
The victim was “friends” with one of the kids. http://www.bnd.com/news/article124672299.html

Comment by NoGifts Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 5:51 pm
As the father of a teenage son with special needs, I cannot imagine what the family is going through. It would be hard not to get violent.
The brutality that some humans have against other humans is so disheartening.
Sigh.

Comment by Jake From Elwood Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 5:59 pm
—-The thought that we have a president-elect who mocked a disabled reporter on TV sours my stomach.—-

Good thing that didn’t happen. However, the country voted against the person who tried to use a person with disabilities as a way to disparage trump falsely. There were so many true things hillary could have said about trump during the campaign. I’m surprised she had to make up that story.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/09/14/did-trump-really-mock-reporters-disability-videos-could-back-him-up.html

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 6:08 pm
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office said it filed charges. anyone have a statement from Kim Foxx? not seeing one. would like a link if anyone has it. Seeing one from the President, however.

Comment by Amalia Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 6:09 pm
Wordslinger - it is obvious, from your reply, that you are more interested in playing games. You just sit back and pontificate while the adults get back to cleaning up your mess.

Comment by Leert Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 6:19 pm
Anonymous at 6:08, meet Leert. Yes, Trump did mock a disabled reporter. it’s on videotape. No, Wordslinger is not playing games. anyone who posts here knows that. This is a serious thread about a horrible incident. everyone needs to stay on that.

Comment by Amalia Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 6:32 pm
I don’t want to politicalize this at all, but I find it rather callous that our Governor is tweeting his praise for a brewery in Rockford at 5 PM. The tweet after that was just as odd. Why the ‘blame Obama’ but silence about Rauner? This incident encompasses all the problems facing our state-

Comment by Cable Line Beer Gardener Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 6:57 pm
Amalia - maybe I do read this site often and I am aware of wordslinger. Maybe not. However, it doesn’t matter. Most of you appear to exist here solely to do absolutely nothing but spin for the left. What good is that? Maybe it’s time to stop spinning and get off here and do something useful.

Comment by Leert Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 8:56 pm
===Most of you appear to exist here solely to do absolutely nothing but spin for the left. What good is that? Maybe it’s time to stop spinning and get off here and do something useful===

- Leert -

This ain’t your lawn… K?

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 9:00 pm
In the 80’s and 90’s, I grew up in Crystal Lake, the town that the young man who was tortured was from.

When I was 18 years old, living in Crystal Lake, I would volunteer nights at the nearby community college to help the developmentally challenged. It usually didn’t matter the activity, every single one of them was a person who was mainly overjoyed to have a sense of belonging, and a bit of friendship. You quickly learn that they are not people who are disabled, but rather are of superhuman ability, for what they have overcome.

Now, as a downstate parent raising a disabled child who also has developmental challenges, I feel a unique kind of terror at this story.

How can this happen in the same place where I grew up? It seems a world away.

Please volunteer your time to help the disabled, developmentally challenged, and those with special needs. It is how you can keep your soul in a place where such barbarism takes place.

For the family of the young man who was targeted by this, I can tell you that it is beyond their worst nightmare.

Fight back in the most loving way, and with determination. Long term, that is the only way things will really change.

Comment by profoundly sad Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:07 pm
I condemn this vicious act and any act of violence that is done against or implies harm against my political opponents, their supporters or anyone who may be mistaken for their supporters.

Comment by Grandson of Man Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:30 pm
The conduct was horrifying, and I feel so badly for the young man and his family. But I wish that those so willing to be judge jury and executioner would take a breath and recognize that why those who did this did this is a question worth pursuing.
The headlines are fueled by the blacks-being-racist-against-a-white character of the incident, as Wordslinger hinted. But spare me, please, the racist ‘if the races were reversed there’d be riots in the street’ rhetoric that fails to address the cause of the incident.

Comment by IRLJ Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:57 pm
This incident doesn’t encompass all the things wrong with this state, but it does encompass the racial divide that is rapidly growing throughout our country and partially brought on by previous comments from our existing POTUS as well as the black lives matter movement. It’s a hate crime by disrespectful, immoral people who probably wouldn’t blink an eye in contributing to the rising death toll in Chicago.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 5, 17 @ 10:57 pm
“….why those who did this is a question worth pursuing.”

because they are violent criminals. unless of course you want, say, the murderer in South Carolina’s behavior to be analyzed as a cultural issue.

Comment by Amalia Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 9:53 am
This is from the Sun Times this morning on another case. We say that we have to get jobs for folks. Well, this one had a job, downtown, and yet, this incident. Sometimes, people are just bad. Glad he was arrested as a friend lives near this crime site.

“A South Side man has been charged in connection with a home invasion in which authorities say he tied up a woman and fondled her Sunday in Bucktown on the North Side.

Edward Malone, 23, was arrested Thursday at work downtown, according to the police, who said he’s charged with home invasion and kidnapping with a firearm.”

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 10:34 am
===“….why those who did this is a question worth pursuing.”
because they are violent criminals. unless of course you want, say, the murderer in South Carolina’s behavior to be analyzed as a cultural issue.===
That’s the myopic view. Maybe they are just ‘bad,’ as if that is a specific diagnosis. Or maybe one or more is mentally ill. One of the accused is reported to have attended the same school as the young man in the video. Maybe there are different levels of culpability. There could be much more than ‘cultural’ issues involved.
My suggestion is learn, then opine.

Comment by IRLJ Friday, Jan 6, 17 @ 11:54 am