The Latest on the beating of a white man in Chicago that was broadcast live on Facebook (all times local):
12:15 p.m.
Two suspects in the beating of a mentally disabled man broadcast live on Facebook have criminal pasts that include serious charges.
Chicago police say 18-year-old Jordan Hill is suspected of taking the victim in a stolen van to a Chicago house where he was beaten this week. Hill was arrested as a juvenile in 2015 on charges including armed robbery, unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle and residential burglary. It’s unclear if he was convicted
Police say 24-year-old Tanishia Covington is accused of kicking in the door of a neighbor who complained about noise during this week’s attack. In 2007, she was arrested as a juvenile for felony attempted armed robbery and aggravated battery.
Police say records show that the other two suspects — Covington’s sister, 18-year-old Brittany Covington, and 18-year-old Tesfaye Cooper — had past arrests for non-violent offenses.
All four are scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
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11:10 a.m.
An online fundraising effort to help the mentally disabled victim of a Chicago beating that was broadcast live on Facebook has brought in more than $42,000 so far.
Bartlett Jackson is a regional communications manager with the online fundraising website GoFundMe. He confirms the victim’s family is working directly with the company on the campaign.
Four black suspects are charged with battery, kidnapping and hate crimes in connection to the attack of the white 18-year-old victim. Authorities say the victim was tied up for four to five hours.
Excerpts of a video posted by Chicago media outlets show assailants cutting off his sweatshirt and taunting him.
The GoFundMe campaign called “Let’s show the Chicago victim love” had raised $42,408 from more than 1,500 donors as of Friday morning.
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9:25 a.m.
Chicago police say drug use may have played a role in the beating of a mentally disabled white teenager by four black suspects that was broadcast live on Facebook.
The suspects are scheduled to appear in court Friday. They were charged on Thursday with hate crimes, battery, kidnapping and other charges.
Chicago Police Commander Kevin Duffin says the video shows two suspects smoking cigars that authorities “presume to be blunts.” Duffin says the video shows the two sisters smoking while the victim is tied up, and at the same time racial slurs and references “to his mental capacity starts coming out.”
The slurs include profanities against white people and President-elect Donald Trump.
Video of the beating has been viewed millions of times on social media.
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