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The Afro-American, January 14, 2017 - January 20, 2017
NATION & WORLD
Your History • Your Community • Your News
Judge Rebukes Four Black Suspects in Beating of Disabled White Man in Chicago
The Afro-American Newspapers
Baltimore Office • Corporate Headquarters 2519 N. Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4602 410-554-8200 • Fax: 1-877-570-9297 www.afro.com
By The Associated Press
Founded by John Henry Murphy Sr., August 13, 1892 Chairman of the Board/Publisher - John J. Oliver, Jr. Executive Assistant - Sallie Brown - 410-554-8222 Receptionist - Wanda Pearson - 410-554-8200 Director of Advertising Lenora Howze - 410-554-8271 - lhowze@afro.com
(Chicago Police Department via AP)
Baltimore Advertising Manager Robert Blount - 410-554-8246 - rblount@afro.com
These booking photos provided by the Chicago Police Department show, from left to right, Brittany Covington, Jordan Hill, Tesfaye Cooper, and Tanishia Covington four people charged, Jan. 5, with aggravated kidnapping and taking part in a hate crime after allegedly beating and taunting a man in a video broadcast live on Facebook.
Director of Finance - Ronald W. Harrison - 410-554-8242 Assistant Archivist - Shelia Scott - 410-554-8265 Director, Community & Public Relations Diane W. Hocker - 410-554-8243
A judge rebuked four Black people accused of beating a mentally disabled White man and broadcasting the attack on Facebook, sternly asking, “Where was your sense of decency?” before denying their attorneys’ pleas to set bail so they might be released from jail. “I find each of you a danger to yourself and society,” Cook County Circuit Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil said, sounding baffled that the suspects, who hold jobs, attend school and, in one case, care for a brother in a wheelchair could be charged with attacking the 18-year-old victim. How, she wondered, could she agree to allow people accused of such “terrible actions” to walk out of jail? Prosecutors offered new details of the assault, explaining that one of the suspects demanded $300 from the mother of the victim, who is schizophrenic and has attention-deficit disorder, and that the beating started in a van and continued at a house. A prosecutor told the judge that the suspects forced the victim to drink toilet water, kiss the floor and then allegedly stuffed a sock into his mouth and taped it shut as they bound his hands with a belt. The four are charged with two counts of committing a hate crime — one because of the victim’s race and the other because of his mental disabilities. The beating was captured on cellphone video by one of the assailants and has since been viewed millions of times on social media. On the video, the male suspects use knives to cut the victim’s hair and his sweatshirt with a knife. One of the females can be seen laughing. A female also laughs as she punches the victim.
Editorial Managing Editor - Kamau High Washington D.C. Editor - LaTrina Antoine Associate Editor - James Bentley Editorial Assistant - Takiea Hinton Production Department - 410-554-8288 Baltimore Circulation/Distribution Manager Sammy Graham - 410-554-8266
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One of the men pulled the cord from the victim’s sweatshirt around the victim’s neck and held him up while the victim was groaning in pain, according to a document read in court. The victim could be heard screaming when one of the men walked up to him with a knife and asked if he should “shank” him. The video also showed the suspects taunting the victim with profanities against White people and President-elect Donald Trump. At one point, the prosecutor said, someone on the video can be heard saying that he did not care if the victim was schizophrenic. All of this started, according to prosecutors, when Hill became angry that the victim’s mother had contacted him asking that her son be allowed to return home. The four suspects were identified as Brittany Covington and Tesfaye Cooper, both of Chicago, and Jordan Hill, of suburban Carpentersville. All are 18. A fourth suspect was identified as Covington’s 24-year-old sister, Tanishia Covington, also of Chicago.
Dylann Roof Sentenced to Death for Killing 9 Church Members By The Associated Press
An unrepentant Dylann Roof was sentenced to death Jan. 10 for fatally shooting nine black church members during a Bible study session, becoming the first person ordered executed for a federal hate crime. A jury deliberated (Lastrhodesian.com via AP, File) for about three hours before returning with This undated photo that appeared the decision, capping on Lastrhodesian.com, a website investigated by the FBI in a trial in which the 22-year-old avowed connection with Dylann Roof, shows white supremacist did him posing for a photo holding a not fight for his life Confederate flag. or show any remorse. He served as his own attorney during sentencing and never asked for forgiveness or mercy or explained the massacre. Hours earlier, Roof threw away one last chance to plead for his life, telling jurors, “I still feel like I had to do it.” A judge will formally sentence him during a hearing on Jan. 12. Roof also faces a death penalty trial in state court. The last person sent to federal death row was Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in 2015.
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