Chicago law enforcement officials were reluctant to call the videotaped torture of a white man by black assailants a hate crime Wednesday night — even though the suspects repeatedly said “fuck white people” as they attacked their victim.
Video emerged Wednesday of an unidentified white man — bound and gagged — being beaten, cut and berated by four African-Americans. One assailant yelled “Fuck Donald Trump! Fuck white people!” as he kicked the man. Another video showed the suspects forcing the white male to drink toilet water as they laugh hysterically. (RELATED: F**k Donald Trump, F**k White People!’: 4 People In Custody After Man Kidnapped, Tortured On Facebook Live)
However, during a Wednesday press conference, police officials refused to speculate on a possible racial motive.
When asked by a reporter why the suspects made anti-white and anti-Trump comments and whether that justifies investigating the horrifying incident as a hate crime, Chicago Police Department Commander Kevin Duffin said, “Kids make stupid decisions — I shouldn’t call them kids, they’re legally adults. But they’re young adults and they make stupid decisions.”
He added, “That will certainly be part of whether or not we determine this a hate crime or whether or not this is stupid ranting and raving.”
At the end of the press conference, Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson was asked about the Donald Trump connection and a possible political motivation for the assault.
He ruled out a connection and said, “If you look at that video… it’s just stupidity,” and later flat-out said, “No” on whether his department was looking into the crime as politically-motivated.
Both official did indicate that they are considering pressing hate crime charges in the case as the investigation proceeds. No charges have been filed yet as of Wednesday night.
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