Three white teens face hate crime charges after they allegedly choked an African-American classmate with a noose and threatened to kill him late last month in Chicago, reportedly because he had become friends with a white girl one of the alleged attackers is related to.
The incident took place Dec. 23 around 10:20 p.m. at the home of one of the alleged attackers, located in the 1600 block of West 100th Place in the city's Beverly neighborhood on the Southwest Side, the Chicago Tribune reports.
According to Fox Chicago, the suspects, aged between 16 and 18 years old and students at Brother Rice High School, put a noose around the victim's neck twice and held him captive in the home. They allegedly threatened to kill the victim, also a Brother Rice student, using racial epithets repeatedly and pulling out a switchblade at one point during the attack.
(Scroll down to watch a report on the alleged attack.)
When he was finally able to leave the house, the victim claims one of his alleged attackers jumped him from behind with a knife and threatened to kill him again, Fox reports.
According to ABC Chicago, the teens were angry because the victim had a relationship with is one of their cousins.
Matthew Hermann, 18, of Alsip, was charged with unlawful restraint and a hate crime, both felonies, as well as misdemeanor battery, the Tribune reports. The two other alleged attackers, aged 16 and 17, are facing the same charges in juvenile court, while the 16-year-old was also charged with aggravated assault with a weapon.
As Patch reports, the matter was under investigation by Chicago Police for several weeks before charges were filed this month.