4 arrested in beating broadcast on Facebook Live

A young woman who broadcast the beating of a man on Facebook Live has been arrested with three others in connection with the gruesome attack, Chicago Police said Wednesday. 

The disturbing 30-minute video shows a man tied up and his mouth covered, cowering in the corner of a room. His attackers laugh and shout "f*ck Donald Trump" and "f*ck white people" as they kick and punch him and cut into his forehead with a knife. 

Police described the victim as an 18-year-old with special needs who was taken from the suburbs. Patrol officers found the disoriented young man wandering the street "in crisis" Tuesday afternoon and brought him to a hospital. 

He was so traumatized that it took most of the night for him to calm down to the point that he was able to talk to police, 11th District Captain Steven Sesso said. It's unclear how long he was missing, but it could have been between 24 and 48 hours. 

The victim's parent reported dropping him off at a local McDonald's before he went missing late Monday evening -- stating to police they had not heard from him since Saturday, December 31, the Streamwood Police Department said in a statement released on Wednesday. 

Later Tuesday, officers responded to a battery call at a residence near where he was found and saw signs of a struggle and property damage, police said. After viewing the video they determined the victim was the man found on the street and that the people arrested were involved, Chicago Police Department Superintendent Eddie Johnson said. 

The suspects, two men and two women, all 18 years old, are in custody awaiting formal charges, he said in a news conference Wednesday. 

"It's sickening," he said. "It makes you wonder what would make individuals treat somebody like that." 

Hate crime charges under consideration 

The victim knew at least one of his accused attackers from a school in the suburbs, Commander Kevin Duffin said. Though he may have voluntarily gotten into a van with the group, police are considering kidnapping charges. 

Because the victim is white and the people in the video are black, police are investigating whether hate crime charges are appropriate, Duffin said in response to reporters' questions about the possibility of a bias attack. 

"Although they are adults, they're 18. Kids make stupid decisions -- I shouldn't call them kids, they're legally adults, but they're young adults and they make stupid decisions," Duffin said. "That certainly will be part of whether or not... we seek a hate crime, to determine whether or not this is sincere or just stupid ranting and raving." 

It's possible the racially charged statements were little more than people "ranting about something they think might make a headline," Johnson added. He said he did not believe the attack was politically motivated. 

The incident comes as Chicago draws intense scrutiny for a grim milestone: 762 murders in 2016. Johnson commended the patrol officers for attending to the victim in distress and following the case through. 

"You hear the narrative that police are backing down and not doing their jobs; this is a perfect example of them doing their jobs," Johnson said. 

"If you commit an act of violence in the city of Chicago you will experience the full weight of the Chicago Police Department." 

Video pulled from Facebook 

Facebook confirmed that it pulled the original video from the suspect's Facebook profile. 

"We do not allow people to celebrate or glorify crimes on Facebook and have removed the original video for this reason. In many instances, though, when people share this type of content, they are doing so to condemn violence or raise awareness about it. 

In that case, the video would be allowed." 

How Facebook Live is changing our world 

According to its community standards, the company removes content, disables accounts and works with law enforcement in cases of a genuine risk of physical harm or direct threats to public safety. Otherwise, Facebook users can report potentially offensive material to real people dedicated to responding to such reports. If a live stream starts blowing up, staffers monitor it for possible violations and interrupt it if need be. ---CNN

Source:NNA