Bail denied for four in hate crime case

Judge: ‘Danger to yourself and society’

CHICAGO — 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, live with grandparents and, in one case, care for a brother in a wheelchair, could stand accused of attacking the 18-yearold victim. How, she wondered, could she agree to allow people accused of such “terrible actions” walk out of jail?

Prosecutors offered new details of the assault, explaining that one of the suspects demanded $300 from the victim’s mother and that the beating started in a van and continued at a house.

The suspects are accused of forcing the victim to drink toilet water and kiss the floor. They allegedly stuffed a sock into his mouth, taped his mouth shut and bound his hands with a belt.

Authorities say they also threatened him with a knife and taunted him with profanities against white people and President-elect Donald Trump.

The 18-year-old victim, who is from a Chicago suburb, suffers from schizophrenia and attention-deficit disorder, authorities said.

The suspects are all charged with two hate crimes — one because the young man was disabled and one because of race. They are also accused of kidnapping and battery, among other offenses.

The four were identified as sisters Tanishia and Brittany Covington of Chicago, Tesfaye Cooper of Chicago and Jordan Hill of suburban Carpentersville. Tanishia Covington is 24; the others are 18.

Two of the suspects were arrested as juveniles on armed-robbery and other serious charges.

Hill was arrested in 2015 on allegations of armed robbery, possession of a stolen vehicle and residential burglary. Chicago police said they did not know the disposition of those arrests by suburban officers.

Tanishia Covington was arrested in 2007 on attempted armed robbery and aggravated battery charges. Police records do not show any convictions as a juvenile. As an adult, she was arrested on charges of battery and aggravated assault, but those charges were dropped.

The beating was captured on cellphone video by one of the assailants and has since been viewed millions of times on social media.

The uproar over the beating intensified the glare on Chicago after a bloody year of violent crime and protests against Mayor Rahm Emanuel and a Police Department that has been accused of using excessive force and hushing-up wrongdoing. The department has also been the subject of a long civil-rights investigation by the Justice Department, which is expected to report its findings soon.

The incident also stirred emotions still raw after a presidential election campaign that split the nation. The case heightened political tensions on social media, with some conservatives suggesting it was linked to the Black Lives Matter movement. Police said there was no indication of any connection.

The incident began New Year’s Eve, when the victim and Hill met at a suburban McDonald’s to begin what both the victim and his parents believed would be a sleepover, police said.

Instead, Hill drove the victim around in a stolen van for a couple of days, ending up at a home in Chicago, where two of the other suspects lived, Detective Commander Kevin Duffin said.