A Chicago man involved in the Facebook live-streamed torture of a white man with special needs in 2017 has been busted again.
Tesfaye Cooper, who along with three others kidnapped the man and tortured him in the online video, was arrested again recently and accused of targeting another victim, CWB Chicago reported Wednesday.
The outlet cited court records and said Cooper was arrested Wednesday after he and another suspect chased, attacked, and robbed a bicyclist on the Clark-Lake CTA station mezzanine. The other suspect was identified as 33-year-old Mazi Pearson, who had active warrants for failure to appear in pending felony cases.
The victim, whom the outlet said was white, reportedly waved at the suspects as he passed them, and they responded by claiming to be Gangster Disciples (GDs).
The suspects allegedly chased the man into the station, through the turnstile, and cornered him. Pearson is accused of punching the man in the shoulder while Cooper tried to hit him. Pearson also allegedly spit on the man before leaving the scene with the man’s bike.
Police officers were alerted to the situation and arrested the two suspects near the scene. Pearson was allegedly carrying several bags of heroin and cocaine.
“Cooper is charged with robbery. Pearson is charged with robbery and two counts of possessing a controlled substance. Judge Luciano Panici, Jr. ordered both men held pending trial,” the CWB Chicago article said.
In early 2017, Cooper was among the four suspects who initially pleaded not guilty after they tortured the man, whom Breitbart News reported was schizophrenic:
All four suspects are charged with hate crimes, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated unlawful restraint, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Three are also charged with residential burglary. One offender faces robbery charges, along with the possession of a stolen motor vehicle.
The video played on Facebook Live showed a bound and gagged white victim huddled in a corner while assailants are heard saying “Fuck white people” and “Fuck Donald Trump” as they beat him and cut his scalp with a knife. Another video clip shows assailants forcing the victim to drink toilet water.
CBS News video showed the torture of the man as the group yelled at him, forced him to drink toilet water, and had his clothes and hair cut up while he sat gagged in a corner.
The outlet said police officers found the victim “bloody and incoherent” after he escaped and was wandering through a neighborhood:
Breitbart News also reported that Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said of the video, “It’s sickening, it makes you wonder what would make individuals treat somebody like that. I’ve been a cop for 28 years, and I’ve seen things that you shouldn’t see in a lifetime, but it still amazes me how you still see things that you just shouldn’t. I’m not going to say it shocked me, but it was sickening.”
Cooper pleaded guilty in 2018 to committing a hate crime and aggravated kidnapping and was sentenced to seven years in prison, CBS News reported at the time.