Cameras Banned for Hearings in Facebook Live Torture Case

CHICAGO, IL — No cameras will be allowed in the courtroom for safety and security reasons during upcoming preliminary hearings for the four defendants accused of tying up and tormenting a mentally challenged Crystal Lake man and posting videos of it on Facebook, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas made the decision Thursday, and she also prohibited sketch artists from drawing the defendants — Jordan Hill, 18, Tesfaye Cooper, 18, Brittany Covington, 28, and Tanishia Covington, 24 — in their jail clothing, the report added. The ruling only applies to the preliminary hearing process, which starts Friday, Jan. 27.

Both sides in the case had objected to allowing cameras in the courtroom, the Sun-Times reports. The 18-year-old victim and his family were specifically concerned with the extended TV coverage of the proceedings proposed by CBS 2 Chicago (WBBM-TV), the report added.

Lawyers for the defendants argued that cameras would jeopardize their clients' chance for a fair trial, the report stated. They also cited safety concerns after a posting on the Tumblr social media platform called for the defendants to be "put up against a wall and executed painfully," the report added.

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All four defendants face charges of aggravated kidnapping, hate crime, aggravated unlawful restraint and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Hill, Cooper and Brittany Covington also were charged with residential burglary, and Hill faces additional robbery and possession of a stolen motor vehicle charges

The suspects are accused of biding the victim with duct tape and tormenting him for hours earlier this month in a West Side apartment. While captive, the victim also had his clothes and hair cut and was forced to walk on all-fours and drink water from a toilet bowl. Shouts of "F--- Donald Trump" and "F--- white people" can be heard in the video of the incident that originally was posted online to Facebook Live.

More via Chicago Sun-Times

The four suspects — Brittany Covington (top left), Jordan Hill (top right), Tanishia Covington and Tesfaye Cooper — charged and accused of kidnapping and tormenting a mentally disabled white man. (photos via Chicago Police Department)

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