The violent beating of a suburban Chicago teenager with mental disabilities broadcast on Facebook Live evoked strong reactions across the world, including from television personality Montel Williams, who slammed the attack in two Facebook posts this week.
"Life in prison. No parole. I'm not interested in whether these kids had a tough life, whether their parents loved them enough, I don't care," Williams wrote on Thursday.
"Whether this is a hate crime is a distraction and irrelevant - THIS IS THE COLD BLOODED TORTURE OF AN INNOCENT HUMAN BEING. That's bigger than a hate crime, it's bigger than racism (saying F*ck white people is racist by definition), its bigger than politics," he added.
"If you can do this to another human being once, you can't be trusted to not do it again."
Jordan Hill, 18, of Carpentersville; Tesfaye Cooper, 18, of Chicago; and sisters Brittany Covington, 18, and Tanishia Covington, 24, also of Chicago, were charged with hate crimes, kidnapping and battery Thursday after prosecutors identified them as the four suspects seen torturing an 18-year-old victim who suffers from schizophrenia and ADD. [[409803045, C]]
All four were held without bond, a decision that was met with cheers when it was announced at a hearing Friday by a judge who asked the accused, "Where was your sense of decency?"
In the video, which surfaced Wednesday and has since been seen by millions of people, police say the four suspects assaulted the Crystal Lake teen, threatening him with a knife and taunting him with profanities against white people and President-elect Donald Trump.
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Williams' initial Facebook post was shared more than 5000 times by Saturday, when he also posted a video with more of his thoughts on the attack. [[409985855, C]]
"... the fact this young man is differently able and was unable to fight back is the final straw justifying the most serious punishment available under the law," he wrote.
"This young man was differently-abled and one of the least of us, and let’s also remember while we’re thinking about this, there’s a movement afoot to take away care from people like him by completely destroying the Affordable Care Act," Williams said in the video.
"Let’s remember people like him need that as protection and need that protection expanded. So while we talk about inhumanity, let’s remember the least of us," he added.
"Plenty of people grow up in the hood - myself included - the notion that's an excuse for torturing another human being disgusts me," he wrote at the end of the post.
The ordeal began Dec. 31, when the victim met Hill, his schoolmate and alleged attacker, at a McDonald's in suburban Schaumburg to begin what both the victim and his parents believed would be a sleepover, authorities said.
Instead, Hill drove the victim around in a stolen van for two days before ending up at a home in the 3300 block of West Lexington in Chicago, where two of the other suspects lived, according to police.
His parents began receiving text messages from persons claiming to be holding him captive, authorities said, and officials discovered the Facebook video while investigating the source of the messages.
On Tuesday afternoon, officers on patrol found the victim, bloodied and disoriented, wandering in Chicago near the home where he had been held. He was taken to an area hospital where he was treated for his injuries and has since been released, his family said.
A GoFundMe account set up to help the victim has raised more than $96,000.
