The soaring crime rate in Chicago and a violent videotaped attack on a mentally disabled man were on President Barack Obama’s mind Thursday.
Obama publicly referred to a Facebook Live clip of four attackers assaulting an unidentified 18-year-old White disabled male as “despicable,” while the Cook County state’s attorney filing hate crimes charges against four African-American Chicago residents arrested for the crime, reports the Chicago Sun Times.
The teens as Jordan Hill, 18, Tesfaye Cooper, 18, Brittany Covington, 28, and Tanishia Covington, 24, writes the news outlet:
“What we have seen as surfacing, I think, are a lot of problems that have been there a long time,” Obama told CBS2. “Whether it’s tensions between police and communities, hate crimes of the despicable sort that has just now recently surfaced on Facebook.”
The Facebook video has focused a spotlight on crime in Chicago in advance of Obama’s Tuesday return to his adopted hometown to deliver his farewell address at McCormick Place.
Obama discussed the video beating and Chicago’s soaring murder rate and violence in interviews at the White House with reporters from five Chicago television stations.
The teens — who also face additional counts of aggravated kidnapping, battery and unlawful restraint — will appear in court Friday afternoon after the videotaped crime was erroneously linked to Black Lives Matter with police having found no supporting evidence, reports The Washington Post.
SOURCE: Chicago Sun Times, The Washington Post
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13 Celebrity Men Who’ve Been Accused Of Heinous Crimes But Are Still Idolized
13 photos Launch gallery
1. Floyd Mayweather: The world boxing champion has a long history of domestic abuse. Over the years, Mayweather has been linked to seven physical assaults on five different women. After beating his kids’ mother, the 37-year-old was sentenced to 87 days in prison but only spent two months behind bars.
Source:INF
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2. Charlie Sheen: His tiger blood hasn’t stopped him from getting into trouble with the law. With his long history of repeatedly assaulting women, Charlie accidentally shot Kelly Preston in 1990, threatened to kill Denise Richards in 2006, and was arrested in 2010 for abusing his ex-wife Brooke Mueller on Christmas Day among other incidents.
Source:Wenn
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3. Bill Cosby: Since 2005, over a dozen women have alleged that Bill Cosby drugged and then sexually assaulted them. With the allegations getting media attention again, the first supermodel ever, Janice Dickinson, has also come forward to reveal the “Cosby Show” actor raped her in 1982.
Source:Getty
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4. Michael Jackson: Throughout his career, the King of Pop was accused of molesting young boys several times. After he died, it was discovered that Michael spent over $35 million covering up the alleged molestation of 24 boys.
Source:Getty
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5. Martin Lawrence: Leading man in one of the best comedy series ever, Martin’s co-star Tisha Campbell left the show “Martin” in 1997, citing sexual harassment, sexual battery, verbal abuse, and threats from Martin. To make matters worse, Tisha recently revealed she was a victim of rape at just 3-years-old.
Source:Wenn
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6. Terry Richardson: The man on the other side of the lens has been labeled a sexual predator by more than a few women. Multiple models have claimed Richardson requested sexual favors during shoots, and the heinous accusations stretch all the way back to 2005.
Source:Terry's Diary
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7. Joe Budden: Joe has supposedly beaten up so many of his girlfriends, it’s become hard to keep track of it all. In perhaps what was one of the most brutal accusations made by an ex, Esther Baxter claimed Joe killed their unborn child after he sat on her, pulled her off a bed while pregnant, choked her, and more. Joe Budden admits the altercation happened, but swears by a different version.
Source:Wenn
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8. Woody Allen: The famed director reportedly sexually abused his 7-year-old adopted daughter Dylan Farrow. Allen refused to take a polygraph test administered by state police, and the young girl’s claims were found to be consistent with the testimony of three adults who were around the same day the abuse happened.
Source:Getty
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9. R. Kelly: The 47-year-old songwriter has a long history of dealing with underage girls. When he was 27, he married 15-year-old Aaliyah, he has been seen on video having sex with underage girls, and we all remember the lewd act he performed on a young girl, urinating into her mouth on tape.
Source:Wenn
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10. James Brown: James Brown has not only been arrested for armed robbery, in the early 2000s he was sued by a woman who claimed it was Brown’s fault she suffered from Graves’ disease, as he allegedly raped her at gunpoint in 1988.
Source:Getty
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11. Kobe Bryant: The LA Laker was the center of a lot of negative attention in 2003, when a 19-year-old hotel employee accused the basketball player of raping her. Though Kobe admitted to having sex with her – and remember, he was married at the time – he denies it was rape.
Source:Getty
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12. Sean Penn: The famed actor is not only known for his ability to meaningfully portray a character, he’s also known for tying up ex-wife Madonna and beating her bloody. She escaped when she told her husband of the time she had to use the bathroom.
Source:Splash
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13. Marv Albert: In 1997, the beloved Sportscaster plead guilty to sexual assault and battery of a longtime lover, who claimed that he repeatedly bit her and forced her to perform oral sex on him. She claimed she was only able to escape after ripping his toupee off of his head.
Source:Getty
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