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PROSECUTORS IN CHICAGO charged four black suspects with kidnapping and hate crimes over the assault of a mentally disabled white man shown live on Facebook, as the attackers hurled obscenities about whites and Donald Trump.
Video of the attack shows the victim, reportedly 18 years old, cowering in the corner of a room as four black assailants taunt and beat him, at times yelling “Fuck Donald Trump” and “Fuck white people.”
President Barack Obama called the hours-long assault in his adopted hometown “despicable.”
The two male and two female suspects – Jordan Hill, Tesfaye Cooper and Brittany Covington, all 18 years old; and Tanishia Covington, who is 25 – are due to appear in court today.
The video, which quickly went viral, highlighted the rise of live video on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and how it can sometimes be used to capture violent images that are then transmitted to all with no filter.
Hate crime charges were filed because of the victim’s “diminished mental capacity, the fact that they tied him up, the obvious racial quotes that they posted live on Facebook,” Chicago police commander Kevin Duffin told a news conference.
Authorities did not know whether the victim – who knew one of his assailants from school – had voted in the November election or whether his political leanings had influenced the attack.
Instead, they detailed a series of events that began with what was supposed to be a visit between two school acquaintances over New Year’s weekend, but which ended in a four- to five-hour-long assault on Tuesday, part of which was broadcast on Facebook.
“There was certainly no premeditation,” Duffin said.
The disturbing 30-minute video quickly spread online before it was taken down by Facebook, prompting an outcry across the nation. Obama told Chicago’s CBS affiliate:
What we have seen surfacing, I think, are a lot of problems that have been there a long time. Whether it’s tensions between police and communities, hate crimes of the despicable sort that has just now recently surfaced on Facebook.
The US president also expressed optimism that subsequent generations can improve race relations.
“It doesn’t mean that all racial problems have gone away. It means that we have the capacity to get better,” Obama said.
No remorse
In the video, two female and two male attackers are seen cutting off parts of the victim’s clothes, hitting him and hacking off some of his hair at the scalp, causing him to bleed.
Authorities did not reveal the identity of the victim, who was tied up during the attack and had duct tape over his mouth. He was also forced to drink toilet water.
He was recovering with his parents after being released from the hospital, police said.
The unplanned attack came at the end of four days in which the victim and Hill, a school acquaintance, spent time together visiting friends.
Prior to being bound and assaulted, the victim “got into a play fight with Jordan and it escalated from there,” Duffin said.
All four suspects face multiple felony charges, including for kidnapping, battery and hate crimes. The hate crime charge alone carries a sentence of at least a year in prison.
The perpetrators had expressed no remorse for their actions, police said.
‘Savage cruelty’
Before police had announced charges, thousands of social media users, including far-right commentators, claimed without offering evidence that the assault was linked to the Black Lives Matter movement born in protest at police shootings of African Americans.
“Stand up with me and demand justice in Chicago for the beating of a disabled trump (sic) supporter by BLM,” conservative US media personality Glenn Beck tweeted Wednesday night.
Many similar messages were posted under hashtags such as #BLMKidnapping.
Chicago-based civil rights leader Jesse Jackson issued a statement refuting any link to the movement.
This uncivilised act of brutality broadcast on Facebook Live has nothing to do with our social or civil rights struggle. This is a sickness and is widely rejected.
“No one affirms this insane and savage cruelty. It is a moral and spiritual collapse.”
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They should get locked up for a long time
When they go low we go high, love trumps hate.
I’m sure this will be the lead on all networks for the next 5 days.
Al Sharpton will lead demonstrations throughout the land.
People will riot.
Televised panel discussions on the state of race relations will dominate the airwaves.
Then again…
Four people arrested, named and charged in Chicago and comments open. One person arrested in Brazil and comments permanently closed.. Something doesn’t add up..
@Cosmo Kramer: nothing adds up anymore! thejournal just deleted a large portion of this thread it did not like!
Exactly, we have a load of hacks sitting in an office in Dublin telling us what we’re allowed comment on, and even the stories we’re allowed comment on these same hacks allow us to only say only what they agree on..
@Cosmo Kramer: might have something to do with Dave O’Keeffe. Every time he is made look stupid, which is a regular occurrence, threads get deleted.
@Cosmo Kramer: “what we’re allowed comment on”
On their site.
You can say what you like on another site. You can even set up your own. But you’ll be legally culpable for what is said on your site.
@Damocles:
not if you have disclaimers, as they have on UK newspaper websites and where comments even on the Guardian would get bounced off or rejected from Irish media websites
@Cosmo Kramer:
it called litigation and all media outlets are terrified of Hickey and DOB.
What do you expect when white people and continuously demonized by the media and liberals. There are college classes titled “The problem with whiteness”. White lives matter is laughed at despite the disproportionate amount of white people who are victims of crime by black people.
@Superfiends: you should review the % of the population in the sample you are referring to that are white and their distribution of wealth.
If 80% are white and hold all the wealth then that will explain why it is actually proportionate.
O I see, so white people are responsible when they are the victims of crime. Nice mental gymnastics, dude
@superfiends Please post a link to the statiatics and we will see if alphanautica is right or not.
@Superfiends All lives matter….
that’s what BLM stands for. you could also call it “black lives matter too”. the babe is pointing out that to white people black lives don’t seem to matter. the socio-economic circumstances play a huge part in the unequal distribution of violent crime in the US.
70% of all African Americans are single parent family’s. The issue is not about race, but culture. They feel they are not accountable for their actions and blame white people for everything that’s wrong in their lives. The whole slavery argument shouldn’t even be entertained in this day and age and the black lives matter “movement” is nothing more than a racist cult.
Ah single parents-that explains everything so…. as a single parent I was unaware that this automatically meant my son was destined for a life of crime-I’ll let him know.
Jonny, when black people are punished more severely and incarcerated more often and for longer than white people who commit similar crimes that tends to reduce the free male population. When it pays for a broke family to not marry and to instead claim single parenthood that effects your statistics. Also, I was raised by a single parent. It happens in every culture.
@alphanautica: What kind of gobshight logic is that? You’re justifying attacks on white people because they are better off?
Judging by thumbs asking people politely to prove what they’re saying is highly disapproved of.
@just me: That’s a distortion of the post, it’s not all about you Just Me
@Maurice Bourke: The stats aren’t in question, it is a/n’s assumption from them that is flawed
@just me: Jonny Irish didn’t mean any offence to single parents, lots of children grow up in single parent families and do just fine, however, statistically speaking, children raised in single parent families are more likely to lead a life of poverty and crime.
That statistic is 3 years old and was expected to start dropping. 24% of children in Ireland are in a single parent home and to be honest I call BS on this loan parent/single parent nonsense. A single parent should be classed as a child who only has one parent involved in their life. My Husband has 50/50 custody of his child week on week off yet mother classes herself as single parent despite having a LIve in boyfriend. Realistically the child has the best with 4 full time parents present.
Technically she can’t legally be classed as a single parent if she has a live in boyfriend. Not for social welfare purposes anyway
This loan parent thing sounds interesting. Do you need to join up like a library, and can you get them for the weekend?
@Dave O Keeffe: Johnny will ignore those pesky facts,but good on you for pointing them out..
@sumetiamtum so if I asked alphanautica to provide a link to a study showing poverty equals crime in American context I would have got more green thumbs?
@Dave O Keeffe: You assume she’s told them. No chance that’s happening – she’d lose benefits.
Oh but Dave she is, dragged is through court for maintenance claimed poverty to the judge until our solicitor questioned her about the BF waiting outside her claiming FIS and carers allowance. Weekly income €700 after taxes and welfare boosts
White lives matter
@Bairéid Rísteard: It sure does. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/ex-football-player-avoids-jailtime-assaulting-disabled-teen-article-1.2917313
Game, set and match. There’s no way these guys will get the treatment that football player did and what he did was worse.
Everyone’s life matters
Yeah it’s not a competition. It’s about treating everyone the same. These Chicago teens haven’t been sentenced yet so it’s hard to compare the cases. They also don’t even have the intelligence to feign remorse. Unfortunately the court system can be played if you know how. The ex-footballer should have gotten jail time but you can’t say from a single case if it’s because he’s white. As an aside I think hate crime legislation is ridiculous. The only thing that matters with motive is whether it was intentionally or not.
@Awkward Seal: well, if someone makes it their mission to kill all [insert colour, affilitaion or ethnicity] then the intention is more criminal than someone who will go out and fight anyone who’ll have it. But yes, i agree for the most part.
Wasn’t all the Hope and Change stuff supposed to herald a new golden era of race relations? Turns out that you can’t create a world where race doesn’t matter by talking about race 24/7 after all. Fancy.
@Ben McArthur: race can’t be swept under the carpet and ignored in a context of the reality of racism continuing to exist.
Racist dirt bags
The disturbing thing is that no one is surprised at their unconscionable behaviour.
During his presidential campaign Donald Trump supporters were often violently attacked by Democratic thugs intent on causing mayhem and destruction and the response of the Democratic leadership left a lot to be desired, in many instances even going so far as to justify the actions.
The coverage in the liberal press was pathetic, portraying the attacks which in essence were attacks upon the very foundations of democracy as ‘amusing’ anecdotes.
Of course the general consensus among the liberal commentariat online was that these sort of attacks were perfectly acceptable on the grounds that the victims were Trump supporters.
Obama’s comments are laughable. This is the guy who spent his time in office fraternising with black rappers and high fiving Black Lives Matter leaders on the White House lawn.
And now the chickens have come home to roost, the nation is on the verge of race war and Democrats are running for cover. As usual.
This is Obama’s legacy. The buck stops with him.
An America divided on race lines. A country on the brink of civil war.
Truly depressing.
@Alex Falcone: civil war! Race war!
You are getting a little incontinent.
Good morning Michael. Wondered where you had got to.
@Alex Falcone your being over dramatic now. Race war????
@Alex Falcone:
the fact that Hilary Clinton said she wanted to “make America whole again” clearly implied that after 8 years in office race relations under Obama had failed.
An interesting demographic shift was portrayed in a graph in the NY Times last year showing that different races were on the move across the US: blacks back to their traditional heartland in the Bible belt states, whites mostly in and around New England and central and northern states, and Hispanics hugging states close to the Mexican border.
As former head of the UK Commission of Racial Equality, black Briton Trevor Phillips, said in his Channel 4 programme several months ago: “I realise now that people prefer segregation, no matter what you do”.
Time to end this political correctness, social justice tirade once and for all… criminals, thugs and degenerates are what they are, skin color is irrelevant.
Oh and…
Lisa: Mom, I know your intentions are good but aren’t the police the protective force that maintains the status quo for the wealthy elite? Don’t you think we ought to attack the roots of social problems instead of jamming people into overcrowded prisons?
Marge: Look Lisa, it’s McGriff, the Crime Dog!
*uses a hand puppet*
Marge: Hey, Lisa, help me bite crime, ruff, ruff!
What PC was ignored? They were charged with a hate crime, and were condemned by everybody. Why are people making it seem like they were let go and congratulated by Obama?
@Tina Kanayo:
There are the very people Obama claims to have empowered.
oh come on? I can bet my mortal soul if the races were reversed, the media would be blaming Trump and you would be defending him. The alt-right were throwing a hissy fit when Milo was banned from Twitter because of the comments from some of his supporters. My point ultimately being you cant blame a person or an organisation because a small minority does evil things because of it. If that was the case, then violent video games , films, music etc etc. would be banned. Is that the society you want to live in ?
@Drew TheChinaman :):
Time to end this political correctness, social justice tirade once and for all… criminals, thugs and degenerates are what they are, skin color is irrelevant.
Maybe if it was our country we could demand this that and the other but it’s not our country.
So what exactly is your point?
Go live in America and your comments might make sense.
Very true… not our circus not our monkeys as they say.
But as culture the world over gentrifies and becomes more globalized… the way we behave and our values become consistently more American lead by an American dominated corporate and media world. So you’re right maybe I should say let’s make sure this kind of rubbish stays over there.
@Tina Kanayo get off your high horse you fool
Marcuw Bale why call me a fool, did I insult you? if your cant debate me, ignore me. No need to call people names when they havnt insulted you.
Blacks are never charged with “hate crimes”, it seems that white lives don’t matter at all.
@Eamon Mac Gowan: These four were. It’s right there in the first line of the article.
@Eamon Mac Gowan: you are factually incorrect.
Horrible racist attack. Oh wait, it was black people attacking a white man. So now it’s a hate crime, not racist. Yeah right.
@Jimmy Murphy: racist attack = hate crime
This was a monstrous, heinous and indefensible attack, just as bad and as despicable as if a bunch of caucasians had attacked a black victim.
Trump’s divisive and polarising election as Prrssident does not mitigate what happened.
A greater outrage was the murder of 9 black peoples in Church by a white supremacist.
The perpetrators should be tried and severely punished but it is also important that a real effort is made to gain insight into what precisely caused the perpetrators to act in the cruel, sadistic and hateful way in which they acted.
Trump isn’t president
@Tony Daly:
Tony, race relations have degraded to their lowest point since the Civil Rights Movement and that has happened entirely under Obama’s watch. The Ferguson shooting in 2014 sparked it off and relations have been steadily deteriorating ever since. The Obama administration, through it’s condoning of BLM’s hateful rhetoric and rioting, has done nothing but facilitate this degradation.
Well said Tony! A balanced and intelligent view of events.
@Ray Middleton: I said that he was elected as President. He is President Elect. Would you prefer that I use the tautology, “elected as President Elect” ? If so, happy to oblige you.
@Jason Culligan: Exactly how is stating that Black Lives Matter, racist?
@Larissa Caroline Nikolaus: it’s not racist Larissa, it’s just stupid. Stupid people like to break down the importance of human life into sub-categories based on the narrative provided to them by the media. Saying Black Lives Matter suggests that all other races are getting preferential treatment from police & government and that blacks are in some way being targeted like Frederick Douglass. It is precisely what is returning America to the 1960′s.
@Jason Culligan: I disagree with you. There have been incidents of considerable notoriety which have exacerbated tensions but these are not necessarily representative of the overall position.
You are reading too much into the fact that President Obama is non Caucasian.
The more obvious and compelling concern is the election of a racial divisuve figure such as Trump whose elevtion has already provoked an escalation in everyday incidents of racial tension and hatred.
It is important to bear in mind that just as a minority of black people are racist against white peoples, so also is a minority of white people racist against black people.
Because of the superior political, social, legal and economic strength of the white community in the US and due to historical considerations, the primary oppressors and agents of racial oppression have been members of the white community, with the black community being the victim of many generations of oppression and unfair treatment, the social and restated effects of which have not yet been fully addressed.
I would go so far as to posit that on absolute numbers, as distinct from percentages, white racism against blacks is more prevalent than black racism against whites.
Certainly, in terms of cumulative impact, the effect of white racism against blacks has been more virulent, profound, persistent and damaging. This remains the case but hopefully reform will continue despite the abberation of Trump.
Why do people even entertain Jason? Seriously, race relations are not at their worst in 50 years, they’re immeasurably better than they were 20 years ago. Also, how people react to a black man being elected president is not his fault. Unless you think he should have ruled himself out on account of his blackness
@thejynxeffect: the origin and context have to be considered.
The origin was in the sequence of killings of black people by policemen in at best dubious circumstances and at worst, in a few cases, cold blooded executions of unarmed civilians.
Language is important but background and context are important in explaining the use of rhetoric.
Read ” The Language of Politics” by Mark Thompson, if you are interested in the use of language in a political and advocacy context.
@Tony Daly, Obama was not president during the 60s. Race relations pre the Civil Rights Movement was even worse as AA had NO RIGHTS! Ever heard of Emmet Till? Jason before speaking on the AA history, please read a history book before sprouting inaccuracies. BLM I would agree is divisive and does not nothing for race relations other than give AA a victim complex. Sad but true, but there is issues facing AA communities that must be addressed and rectified. To deny otherwise is completely and utterly wrong. Glad to see those evil vermin locked up awaiting prosecution. However lets not act like they are indictive of all black people as Dylan Roof does not represent all white people.
@Tony Daly: Bullsh*t Tony.
“The origin was in the sequence of killings of black people by policemen”.
It may come as a surprise to you that people are shot every day in the U.S. by police. This includes blacks, whites, asians etc. Most of the time police are defending themselves, sometimes they are not justified in using force.
The only issue is that the media will highlight the incidents it wants the public to pay attention to and quite literally ignore incidents that do not fit their narrative. This is to create a victim mentality among blacks and a guilt mentality among whites. It’s classic divide and conquer. This is where the “white privilege” narrative came from. Easily led people buy this crap, others know how the media works.
If this video wasn’t posted on Facebook for everyone to see, the story never would have seen the light of day.
@thejynxeffect: you ignore the facts and circumstances of the appalling and shocking killing of black people who were unarmed. It is not just about percentages. It is about the specific incudents of targeting black victims.
@Tina Kanayo: Obama was not President during the 196os but led and motivated by the great Martin Luther King, Jack Kennedy, more so his britches Robert Kennedy and even Lyndon Johnson initiated a process of civil rights reform which continued to positive and beneficial effect and which gave rise to the eventual election of President Obama.
I was making the narrow point that I don’t consider it fair or reasonable to seek to blame President Obama for racial tensions in the US. Also, I don’t consider it ab accrual,conclusion to say that race relations in the US are as bad as Jason Cullingan seeks to misrepresent them as. There are certainly tensions but these are not at the lowest ebb since the civil rights movement.
Much of the criticism of President Obama has been racially motivated in my opinion.
@Jason Culligan: Here is a wee bit of reading for you :http://csgv.org/issues/guns-democracy-freedo/insurrectionism-timeline/
Hope this helps.
Sorry my comment was in response to Jason.
@Tony Daly: I give up Tony.
@thejynxeffect: That is great news.
@Larissa Caroline Nikolaus:
Pretty racist…
@Larissa Caroline Nikolaus: Because those spouting it don’t believe that any others do.
@Francis Mc Carthy @TonyDaly: Actually it was fake news! i’ll never give up! ; )
“Criticism of President Obama has been racially motivated in my opinion.” – Oh yes, criticizing a black president for increasingly bad race relations is racist.
You’re saying race relations are not that bad and then you call criticism of Obama (of which there is plenty) racially motivated. Your argument is an oxymoron Tony. Well done.
@Nazerene:
Basically Tony Daly, it comes down to a sense of decency. Something a lot of white people & a lot of black people have I believe. There will always be people who blame their problems on others. Yes there are racist while people & racist black people. Unfortunately that’s just life. There’s no need to go looking for a good reason for why they did what they did. There isn’t one.
People entertain Jason Dave O Keefe because unlike some people posting comments on the Journal, he speaks a lot of sense. Also he keeps his comments short & to the point unlike some who like to come across as superior by using unnecessarily long & convoluted sentences.
White lives don’t matter & blacks cannot be racist… so sick of hearing this crap! Some of the most bigoted people I’ve encountered are black, that fight or riot that happened in town recently which was organised on Facebook consisted of mainly male black teenagers. I witnessed them first hand. They attacked & racially abused white people & got away with it. This mentality exists because the PC liberals say that it either doesn’t exist or when it is shown otherwise then it’s societies fault or white people’s fault. This is an clear example of professional victim hood in order to avoid responsibility for their actions. Their apologists are worse. I watched the footage in question & as the father of 2 autistic children it can tell you its both heartbreaking & infuriating to watch! Hopefully they’ll get many years in prison which they deserve. Over here they’d get compensation & a rally courtesy of the SWP/PBP/AAA & all the rest of them.
@Matt Donovan: white lives matter as much as black lives and any other colour’s. Racism knows no colour, nationality or political views either. Anyone can be racist.
The one thing i’d add though: BLM does NOT mean “Only Black Lives Matter” but rather “Black Lives Matter TOO”. That is the idea of the movement and the majority of their subscribers agrees with it. Like in most civil rights movements you have some people who try to ride the wave and mis-use it for their own agenda, BLM itself is not a racist movement at all.
Perhaps you could try tell that to the BLM movement as a whole Julian or the degenerates who assaulted the victim in the video. I wouldn’t get your hopes too high though as the professional apologists are out in force.
@Matt Donovan: I agree that the behaviour of the 4 young adults in the video is absolutely despicable. Particularly the way they seem to get enjoyment out of their torturous sadistic ways paitns them in a light that allows little to no room for interpretation. They are dangerous criminals who need to be locked away for a long time, maybe for good. There is no doubt, more so after they showed 0 remorse, a typical indication of sociopathy.
I am also really tired of the old “racism can only be executed by the powerful party…” blergh, complete nonsense. That is what apoglogists say.
BUT, and this is a MAJOR BUT, the police (!) in their country has shot severeal unarmed and innocent (t the very least alleged innocent) civilians at point blank and got away with it, seemingly purely on a race-based argument. As despicable as these 4 criminals have acted, there is literally NOTHING worse than corrupt and trigger-happy police force, that have a get out of jail card. That is precisely what the Gestapo in Nazi-Germany did. That is what the Gulag did. Once you cant trust the law enforcement to be impartial, you cant trust anyone.
Obama’s fault, not Trump’s!
@Aaron Roche: Why is it either’s fault? I think it is the fault of the racist teenagers who committed the crime. The president was nowhere near, nor was the president elect.
What a poxy response from a poxy president. Say what you see you absolute disaster
They look exactly what they are America’s African American Ghetto dirt . The state of them .
What is it with the trend among some black american’s, for giving their kids nonsense names that sound like cheap perfume or pharmaceutical products??
As a parent who knows the struggles and worries having a child with special needs i can honestly say this is the stuff of nightmares . Imagine the trauma and worry and fear that kid felt . And imagine his parents fear and anxiety as that shower took upon themselves to have fun . I can honestly say there was tears and lots of anger reading this . I couldn’t watch that video . 2 minutes alone with . That’s all i pray for . 2 minutes and pure annihilation .
Black violence towards whites is going on a long time and is pushed under the carpet so as not to show blacks in a bad light these are pro Obama anti trump liberal supporters
The world is full of sick nutcases and it seems to be getting worse?
have your say