CNN host Don Lemon told a panel of guests on Wednesday night that Chicago suspects linked to a live-streamed torture video are victims of “bad home training.”
Chicago police charged four black individuals with hate crimes and multiple felony offenses on Thursday in relation to a kidnapping on Tuesday. A disabled man was bound, gagged, beaten, and cut on Tuesday while suspects berated him with “F- Trump!” and “F- white people!” Mr. Lemon told guests that the crimes, which were uploaded to Facebook, had nothing to do with “evil.”
“I don’t think it’s evil,” Mr. Lemon responded to contributor Matt Lewis. “I think these are young people, and I think they have bad home training. Who’s 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.”
All of the individuals charged by police are legally adults. Suspects Jordan Hill, Tesfaye Cooper, and Brittany Covington are 18 years old; Tanishia Covington is 24.
Charges leveled against the group include aggravated kidnapping, hate crime, aggravated unlawful restraint, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, robbery, possession of a stolen motor vehicle and residential burglary.
Authorities said the victim is recovering in a local hospital.
SEE ALSO: Chicago police charge 4 black suspects of hate crime after ‘F- Trump’ torture video
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on Thursday that it was “too early to say” whether federal hate crime charges are warranted.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.