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Suspects in videotaped beating plead not guilty in Chicago

Suspects in videotaped beating plead not guilty in Chicago | iNFOnews.ca
FILE - In these undated file booking photos provided by the Chicago Police Department show, from left, Tesfaye Cooper, Brittany Covington, Tanishia Covington and Jordan Hill. The four are charged, with aggravated kidnapping and taking part in a hate crime after allegedly beating and taunting a white mentally disabled man that was captured by a cellphone camera and shown live on Facebook. They are scheduled to return to court Friday, Feb. 10, 2017 where they're expected to enter pleas in the case. (Chicago Police Department via AP File)

CHICAGO – Four black people charged with a hate crime in an attack on a white mentally disabled man that was shown live on Facebook have pleaded not guilty.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports (http://bit.ly/2lz7Hxb) that assistant public defenders for each of the four entered the pleas on Friday. They have been in custody since early January. At their first hearing, a judge called them a danger to society and refused to allow them to post bail.

The case gained international attention because the attack was captured by a cellphone camera and shown on Facebook Live. On the video, the suspects are seen beating the schizophrenic victim and can be heard taunting him and shouting profanities against white people and then-President-elect Donald Trump.

The four also face aggravated kidnapping and other charges.

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