Chicago elected officials share public's horror at torture of disabled victim
FOX 32 NEWS – The alleged hate crime provoked disgust and revulsion at City Hall and at the White House in Washington.
“The disturbing images that we saw on that video, they do demonstrate a level of depravity that is an outrage to a lot of Americans about it. I haven’t spoken to the president about it but, I am confident he would be angered by the images that are depicted on that video,” said President Obama spokesman Josh Earnest.
The victim’s family confirmed he is mentally challenged, especially infuriating those concerned about that vulnerable population.
“That just adds to the outrage! That this individual probably didn’t fully understand what was happening to him, what he was getting himself into when he willingly went with them, at least at first,” Alderman Brian Hopkins said.
“Anybody seeing it – it’s both sickening and sickened by it. Given that they’re now being charged, I’m not saying more about it. But that is my view of both what happened and what they did. As it relates to the city, there is more to our city than that,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said.
The mayor’s remarks about the alleged hate crime came, ironically, at a news conference to celebrate a record number of tourists visiting Chicago last year. Things like this certainly make selling the city that much harder.
Gov. Bruce Rauner also said in the statement that he and his wife Diana were “deeply saddened and disturbed by the horrific violence” seen in the video.
As for Facebook, it did eventually take the video down. It released a statement saying, “We do not allow people to celebrate or glorify crimes on Facebook and have removed the original video for this reason.”
The social media site has not banned graphic video though. It says in many cases people post it to condemn violence.