Chicago police have detained four teens in connection with the incident officials have called "sickening."
Chicago police have detained four youths in connection with the savage torture of a man officials have called mentally challenged.
Charges were filed Thursday against against two men and two women, three of them age 18 and one age 24, who cops say bound and beat the 18-year-old victim while broadcasting the attack on Facebook Live.
Read: Duo Arrested After Live-Streaming Failed Kidnapping Attempt on Facebook Live: Cops
In the Facebook Live footage, the attackers appear to cut the victim's hair and clothes with a knife, push the man’s head with a foot and flick cigarette ash on him.
According to CBS Chicago, a second video later surfaced on Twitter and appears to show the victim being forced to drink from a toilet, among other torturous acts.
Police said they are also investigating the second video.
In the footage, posted by local media, someone off-camera disparages "white people" and Donald Trump, causing many to question whether race was being considered a motivating factor.
By Thursday afternoon, police answered that question when they charged all four suspects with hate crimes, among other alleged offenses.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office filed felony criminal charges against 18-year-olds Jordan Hill, Tesfaye Cooper and Brittany Covington.
Tanishia Covington, 24, also faces felony charges.
In addition to the hate crime charges, all four face charges of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated unlawful restraint, and aggravated deadly weapon.
The three 18-year-old suspects also face residential burglary charges. Jordan Hill alone faces a robbery charge and a charge of possession of a stolen motor vehicle.
Officers said they found the victim "in distress and in crisis" walking down the street. He was taken to a hospital, where officials determined he'd been reported missing from a Chicago suburb.
"It's sickening," Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said at a Wednesday news conference. "It makes you wonder what would make individuals treat somebody like that."
Cmdr. Kevin Duffin told reporters the victim was classmates with one of the alleged attackers and initially went willingly with that suspect.
"He's traumatized by the incident and it's very tough to communicate with him at this point," Duffin said.
According to WLS, police discovered over the course of their investigation that the victim's parents reported receiving text messages from people who claimed to be holding their son captive.
Watch: Cops Arrest Man After He Posts Drunk Driving Selfie Video on Facebook
