Mystery Deepens Over Facebook Post Alleging Racial Incident in Beverly

A Facebook post alleging a car full of white teens alleged to have yelled slurs at a young African-American boy in the Beverly neighborhood had the Southwest Side social media drama mill working overtime.

The parent who owns the vehicle that her son was driving at the time of the alleged incident is now threatening legal action against the Oak Lawn woman who posted a photo of the car’s license plate on Facebook, publicly identifying her as the vehicle’s registered owner.

It all started on Monday evening, when Oak Lawn resident Liz Toussaint posted a photo of the license plate with the plea “make this go viral” on Facebook.

Toussaint recounted on Facebook that she was driving in the area of 103rd and Prospect in the Beverly neighborhood around 3:20 p.m. Monday, when “my cousin and I personally witnessed four (4) Caucasian males approximately 16-20 years old intimidate an African American boy approximately 9 years old.”

As the young boy began to cross the street, Toussaint maintained that the young men in the car yelled out racial slurs at the boy who “ran for his life.”

“The fear in his face caused me to pull alongside the car with the men and yell at them to leave him alone, they then sped off, but not before we got a picture of their plate. I am calling this into the police with no expectation of them doing anything. Make this go viral. We must protect our children from ANYONE who may intimidate them …”

After the photo of the license plate was circulated through the neighborhood Facebook groups, the mother of the teen driver told DNAinfo Chicago that she her family has been “barraged by threats.”

She attributed the remark to one of her son’s friends being a “jerky teenager” who yelled out, “Hey, I like your shoes. Come over here.” The mother has been in touch with the boy’s family.

The mother also promised to bring legal action against Toussaint for posting the photo on social media, and the person responsible for obtaining her personal information and address through the driver’s license database, DNAInfo said.

After being made aware of the Facebook post, Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th) posted this response on Facebook:

“Earlier this evening I was contacted by someone reporting an incident of racial intimidation in the vicinity of 103rd & Prospect. I have forwarded the complaint to the Chicago Police Department. I would ask anyone who may have any information about this matter to contact the Chicago Police Department immediately.”

For her part, Toussaint said she twice called 311 immediately after the incident, but her call was rejected because “I am not the victim or the victim’s parent,” according to DNAInfo’s report.

Since O’Shea’s post, the alderman’s office said no one has contacted Chicago police about the alleged incident.

A staff member for O’Shea said that a 911 call had been placed after the incident, but when police arrived “there was no victim and no witness.”