Free Republic

Ed Morrissey covered the disturbing video showing four people torturing a mentally-challenged man earlier today. He wrote at the time “If we are to have ‘hate crimes,’ then this clearly falls within that classification.” Now the four individuals who were arrested have been charged with hate crimes and other charges. From NBC5 Chicago: Jordan Hill, 18, of Carpentersville; Tesfaye Cooper, 18, of Chicago; Brittany Covington, 18, of Chicago; and Tanishia Covington, 24, of Chicago, were each charged with aggravated kidnapping, hate crime, aggravated unlawful restraint and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Hill, Cooper and Brittany Covington also face...

On Wednesday, a group of African-American teenagers tortured a white man with special needs and streamed the horrific acts on Facebook. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest was asked if President Obama had any comment about the video. “I haven’t spoken to the President about it, but I am confidant he would be angered by the images that are depicted on that video,” Earnest told the reporter. The reporter asked Earnest if this rose to the level of a hate crime. “I think it’s too early to tell. I certainly don’t want to predict where the investigation will lead,” Earnest...