What Is A Hate Crime? Chicago Attack On Disabled Man On Facebook Live Could Spread Hatred And Intolerance [VIDEO]

Four African-Americans have been charged with hate crimes after an attack on a disabled white teenager in Chicago was streamed live on Facebook. In the video, the assailants shouted obscenities about white people and President-elect Donald Trump.

The office of the State’s Attorney for Cook County said Thursday Jordan Hill, Tesfaye Cooper and Brittany Covington, all 18 years old, and Tanishia Covington, 24, all faced charges of kidnapping, hate crimes, aggravated unlawful restraint and battery and burglary. They allegedly held the victim for about five hours and attacked him in a 30-minute long Facebook Live video.

The video posted Tuesday shows the victim being attacked while someone shouts “F--- Donald Trump” and “F--- white people.” The suspects made the victim drink toilet water and sliced off a piece of his scalp, officials said.

The victim, 18, was not named. He lives in a Chicago suburb and had been reported missing by his parents Monday. He was allegedly a target because he is disabled and white.

“The actions in that video are reprehensible,” said Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson in Thursday’s news briefing. “There was never a question about whether this incident qualified to be investigated as a hate crime.”

Under Illinois law, a hate crime involves an attack on a victim “by reason of the actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, or national origin of another individual or group of individuals, regardless of the existence of any other motivating factor or factors.”

The FBI defines a hate crimes as a "traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias. For the purposes of collecting statistics, the FBI has defined a hate crime as a 'criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity,'" its website explains, adding, "Hate itself is not a crime—and the FBI is mindful of protecting freedom of speech and other civil liberties."

In 2014, law enforcement agencies reported 5,479 hate crime incidents involving 6,418 offenses.