Chicago Torture-Kidnap Case: Disgust Over Attack, Support for Victim and a Cause for Conservatives

CHICAGO, IL — As the video of a mentally challenged Crystal Lake man bound and tortured by several young African-American adults has spread since being posted online earlier this week, people and public officials have decried the horrific acts seen in the footage.

One of the first responses came from Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson during his initial press conference concerning the investigation Wednesday.

"Have you seen the video? It’s sickening. It makes you wonder what would make individuals treat someone like that," he said. “I’ve been a cop 28 years, and I’ve seen some things you shouldn’t see in a lifetime. I’m not going to say it shocked me, but it was sickening.”

In the video that was originally posted on Facebook, the victim is seen bound in duct tape and being tormented by his African-American captors, who also cut his clothes and hair. Comments from the captors, such as "F--- Donald Trump" and "F--- white people," can be heard on the video.

More Patch Coverage

• Hate Crime, Other Felony Charges Filed Against 4 Suspects
• Victim's Brother-in-Law Says Family Trying to Stick Together After Ordeal
• 4 Arrested in Binding, Torturing of Mentally Challenged Man: Police
• Alleged Facebook Torture-Attack Video 'Sickening,' CPD Superintendent Says
• 2nd Video Surfaces in Facebook Torture-Kidnapping Case

A second video that was posted online shows the victim forced to walk on all-fours and drink water from a toilet bowl. His captors also coerce him into shouting, "F--- Donald Trump" on the video.

"Sickening" also was the word used by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to describe the video when he was asked about it during a Thursday press conference concerning city tourism. President Barack Obama called it "despicable" in interviews with Chicago TV reporters, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson denounced the actions in a prepared statement and on his Twitter account.

All four suspects — Jordan Hill, 18, Tesfaye Cooper, 18, Brittany Covington, 28, and Tanishia Covington, 24 — were charged with aggravated kidnapping, hate crime, aggravated unlawful restraint and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, the report stated. 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 report added.

Closer to the scene where the alleged torture happened and was recorded, West Side ministers decried the assault on the 18-year-old from Crystal Lake, according to ABC 7 Chicago.

"This is not who the West Side is. This is not a representation of the African American race in Chicago at all," the Rev. Ira Acree of Greater St. John Bible Church said Thursday.

"Sin is a reproach to any people. But we also condemn the use of social media to highlight this," the Rev. Walter Arthur McCray of the National Black Evangelical Association added.

On Thursday, a GoFundMe page was started by an individual in San Franciso with the goal of raising $10,000 to help the victim and his family. As of Friday afternoon, the campaign has earned more than $50,000.

"The perpetrators have been apprehended and hopefully swift justice will be served," the fundraising page state "But let's take an opportunity now to show this young man and his family some financial support during this difficult time of recovery and let him know there are many out there that are here for him."

GoFundMe officials say they will work with the organizer to make sure the money raised reaches the victim and his family, NPR reports.

While condemnation for the alleged offenders and support for the victim have been universal, some of the national reaction has taken a political turn, with right wing critics blaming outgoing President Barack Obama's policies, Black Lives Matter and liberals in general for the attack. In fact, shortly after the video was shared online, #BLMKidnapping popped up on posts discussing the incident on social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter.

Although Black Lives Matter wasn't mentioned in the video or police briefings, the emergence of the hashtag forced Deray McKesson, one of the activists behind the movement, to deny BLM's involvement:

Former Chicago police officer Dimitri Roberts also defended the movement to CNN:

"This is hate. And hate doesn't have a color. So for folks to talk about this is somehow connected to Black Lives Matter is absolutely the wrong way to look at this. … And we cannot respond to hate with hate. It's just going to perpetuate the cycle."

The four suspects have been charged with a hate crime — police cited the victim's "diminished mental capacity" and the alleged offenders' racial comments in the video for the charge — but Area North Detectives Commander Kevin Duffin rejected the idea that the incident was premeditated or political in nature.

That hasn't quashed the hashtag or the criticism:

A column posted Friday on the conservative Brietbart News website took Obama to task for creating a Chicago where an incident like this could happen:

"Meanwhile, Obama’s embrace of the Black Lives Matter movement has been a disaster for the city. As Mayor Emanuel said himself in 2015, commenting on the increased scrutiny of police — a result of BLM’s nationwide rise: 'We have allowed our police department to get fetal and it is having a direct consequence … They have pulled back from the ability to interdict … they don’t want to be a news story themselves, they don’t want their career ended early, and it’s having an impact.' "

On Friday, the four alleged offenders were denied bail and are currently being held in Cook County Jail.

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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