Lawyer Blasts 'Sensationalized' Coverage After Facebook Live Suspects Are Indicted

By Stephen Gossett in News on Jan 27, 2017 9:59PM

Chicago Police Department

The four suspects facing hate crime charges in the Facebook Live torture case were indicted on Friday, as expected, shortly before the Cook County Public Defender said that "sensationalized" media coverage could lead to a contaminated jury, the Tribune reports.

Jordan Hill, 18; Tesfaye Cooper, 18; Brittany Covington, 18; and Tanishia Covington, 24 were indicted on Friday. They each face charges of aggravated kidnapping and hate crime, among others, in the attack of a schizophrenic man that broadcast live on Facebook. Neither cameras nor a sketch artist were allowed in court by a judge due to reported death threats against the defendants and, possibly, their attorneys.

"Sensationalized, pervasive media coverage threatens to poison the jury pool for my clients," Public Defender Amy Campanelli told reporters outside court, after the indictment was delivered, as the Tribune reports. "They have already been denounced in the media before anything has been proven." She reportedly lamented that "it is sad and unfortunate" that people without "all the facts" have commented on the four suspects.

The suspects are being held without bond, which Campanelli on Friday said was due to them having been "prejudged."

The video—which was first streamed live on Facebook then heavily circulated on social media—shows the victim with his mouth taped and hands bound while his scalp and sweatshirt are cut with a knife. One offender can be heard shouting, "fuck white people" and "fuck Donald Trump."

The video garnered widespread condemnation. Supt. Eddie Johnson called the attack "brutal" and "sickening; and Barack Obama called it "despicable."

Before charges were formally filed, the video was widely shared using the hashtag #BLMKidnapping, despite the fact that police confirmed Black Lives Matter was in no way involved with the attack.