 Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson speaks during a news conference Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017, on the hate crime and other charges filed against four individuals for an attack on a man that was captured... (Associated Press) 
 
 Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson speaks during a news conference Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017, on the hate crime and other charges filed against four individuals for an attack on a man that was captured on a Facebook video. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune) SEE MORE VIDEOS 
 
 President Barack Obama called the news from his hometown "despicable" and said the Internet has exposed long simmering racial tensions. "We see visuals of racial tensions, violence and so forth because of smartphones and the internet and media ... a lot of the problems that have been there a long time," he said. Charged in the attack were Jordan Hill, 18, of Carpentersville; Tesfaye Cooper, 18, of Chicago; and sisters Brittany Covington, 18, and Tanishia Covington, 24, who lived in an apartment in the 3300 block of West Lexington Street where the assault allegedly took place. The alleged attackers will make their first court appearance on Friday, a day after they were charged. Late Thursday, David Boyd, who identified himself as the victim's brother-in-law, said in a brief statement to reporters that the family was grateful for "all the prayers and efforts" that led to his safe return. He said the victim was traumatized but doing as well as could be expected. Then a pretend fight escalated into a brutal beating of one of the men, a mentally disabled teenager, in an attack that stirred racial tensions and outrage after being broadcast on Facebook Live. The victim appeared "injured" and "confused" and was wearing little clothing despite the freezing temperatures, police said. A police officer later spotted the bloodied and obviously disoriented man wandering down a street. Police ran his name and discovered he'd been reported missing Monday by his parents, who said he disappeared after they dropped him off at a McDonald's in suburban Streamwood to meet up with Hill on Saturday. The police report said the victim's mother knew the first name of her son's friend — Jordan — but wasn't clear on his last name. Instead, Hill drove the victim around in a stolen van for a couple of days, ending up at a home in Chicago, where two of the other suspects lived, Detective Commander Kevin Duffin said. The sisters got angry and tied the victim up, according to police. Excerpts of the video posted by Chicago media outlets show the victim with his mouth taped shut and slumped in a corner of a room. One of the men cuts the victim's hair and scalp with a knife, and the victim's head appears to be bleeding. Later, they pretend to tap ashes in the wound while Covington laughs. How the white suburban teen ended up beaten by four black people, threatened with a knife and taunted with profanities against white people and President-elect Donald Trump is among the puzzles authorities are still trying to piece together after the four were charged with hate crimes. At least two assailants are seen cutting off his sweatshirt, and others taunt him off camera.
– The 18-year-old victim of a brutal beating broadcast on Facebook Live thought he was going to a sleepover. That's what his parents thought, too, when they dropped him off at a McDonald's in the Chicago suburbs on New Year's Eve to meet up with 18-year-old Jordan Hill, who had been a classmate. The victim and Hill drove around together (in what police say was a van stolen by Hill) visiting friends for two days, with the victim sleeping in the van. On Tuesday, they ended up at a Chicago apartment where sisters Brittany and Tanishia Covington, ages 18 and 24, lived. What would ultimately turn into the shocking beating, broadcast live for 28 minutes and viewed millions of times on social media, started as a "play fight" between the victim and Hill, the Chicago Tribune reports. It escalated, and police say the Covington sisters got angry and tied the victim up. A downstairs neighbor heard noises and threatened to call police; two of the suspects left to allegedly kick down that neighbor's door, allowing the victim to escape, the AP reports. Hill, the Covington sisters, and 18-year-old Tesfaye Cooper were all charged with a hate crime due to racial slurs and comments about the victim's disability they were allegedly heard making on the video. A family spokesperson says the victim has had "profound emotional and physical disabilities throughout his life," and the missing persons report notes that he "does not like telling his parents who he's with" (his mother knew only Jordan Hill's first name, not his last). The suspects, who also face kidnapping, battery, and other charges, are in court Friday.