Chicago police have charged four black individuals with a hate crime for their alleged participation in the torture of a disabled man on Tuesday.
A Facebook Live video streamed Tuesday revealed four individuals yelling “F—Trump!” and “F— white people!” over a bound and gagged individual. Chicago police found the victim after he was released roughly 24 hours later and tracked the broadcast to an apartment in the 3400 block of West Lexington Street.
Jordan Hill, 18, of Carpentersville; Tesfaye Cooper, 18, of Chicago; Brittany Covington, 18, of Chicago; and Tanishia Covington, 24, of Chicago have all been charged with crimes related to the incident, a local station reported Thursday.
Some of the charges include aggravated kidnapping, hate crime, aggravated unlawful restraint, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, robbery, possession of a stolen motor vehicle and residential burglary.
The White House also weighed in on the story, saying it is “too early to say” whether the incident constitutes a federal hate crime.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest then called the images “a level of depravity that is an outrage to a lot of Americans.”
SEE ALSO: Chicago torture: Cops question 4 after man held hostage on ‘F- Trump!’ Facebook Live video
Mr. Earnest said he didn’t know whether President Obama has seen the video, but confident that the commander in chief “would be angered by the images.”
The victim, who was beaten and cut with a knife during the ordeal, is recovering in a local hospital.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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