Horrific Torture Captured on Facebook Live:

By now you’ve probably seen the news articles with video footage of a special needs teen being tied up and tortured by four African American young adults in Chicago. The white teen, who suffers from schizophrenia, is shown forced into a corner while the assailants take turns beating the tied-up teen with duct tape over his mouth. During the nearly 30-minute video, which was broadcasted on Facebook Live, shouts of “fuck white people” and “fuck Donald Trump” can be heard from behind the camera. According to Commander Kevin Duffin of the Chicago Police, the attackers forced their victim to drink toilet water during the attack. Following the attack, police spotted the victim on the street and called ambulances.

Aftermath:

After footage of the assault attracted millions of views online, outcries from across America on both the left and the right condemned the actions of those in the video. However, one prominent media figure, Don Lemon, simply seems to believe that this is just the result of bad home training.

During a discussion of the event on his show, the journalist responded to a guest, Matt Lewis, analysis that this event was evil. Lewis called it, “man’s inhumanity to man.” In response Lemon claimed that he didn’t think it was evil, but was simply the result of “bad home training.” Lemon went on to lament over where the parent or guardian of these young people could be.

While I can’t help but wonder what happened to these young people to make them commit such an atrocity, I can’t agree with Don in his blurring of the line between good and evil.

Why Don Lemon Needs to be Addressed:

Following Lemon’s statement, his comments were met with backlash on the internet almost immediately. Many took to the internet claiming that had the situation been reversed (four white young people torturing a black disabled person) Don would’ve been outraged.

I don’t know Don Lemon, so I’m not going to assume anything about how he would view the situation had it been reversed, but he’s brought to my attention a problem that seems to be creeping into our media and our society as a whole. It seems as if we are unable to call something what it is in the name of political correctness.

When looking at the possible causes for events like this, it’s okay to speculate that bad home training could’ve been a contributing factor. However, in stating, “I don’t think it’s evil,” Don may have unknowingly belittled a horrific monstrosity.

In analyzing these situations we must be okay to be honest about the horrible situation while still being able to sympathize with the fact that the assailants may have had horrible things happen to them growing up.

Justice is Served:

On Friday, a judge ruled that the four assailants will be “held without bond” according to NBC Chicago. When the ruling was announced the courtroom erupted with cheers. Along with charges of kidnapping and battery, the court added hate crime charges after concluding that the attacks were based on the victim’s race and disability.

A Bigger Problem:

This event is a display of the racial tensions that seem to be continually rising in America. If we truly want to see unity, it’s going to take honesty and empathy. Let’s learn to speak truthfully and listen carefully.