Beating of Chicago teen filmed, posted online

[January 18, 2012]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Six teenagers were being questioned by Chicago police Tuesday after a video was posted online showing the brutal beating of a 17-year-old by unknown assailants who can be heard repeating racial slurs and making derogatory comments about speaking Chinese.

On the video, several attackers -- many with sweatshirt hoods over their heads and some wearing masks -- are seen repeatedly kicking and punching the victim to the snow-covered ground Sunday afternoon on the city's South Side. Authorities said the victim is of Asian descent, but despite the epithets, police said the beating did not appear racially motivated.

Throughout the more than 3-minute video, the assailants, whose racial identities are unclear, can be heard using the N-word dozens of times, and one attacker asks, "Am I speaking Chinese to you?"

The videotaped attack on a teen in Chicago isn't the first to go viral. In 2009, footage of the fatal beating of a 16-year-old honor student was circulated worldwide, providing an example of escalating violence that claimed the lives of more than 20 Chicago public school students in a six-month period.

In the most recent video, the assailants at times used a shoe and a chunk of ice to strike the victim, as he pleads for them to stop in what sounds like broken or heavily accented English. However, the audio isn't always clear in the video, which was posted on YouTube and later removed for violating the site's policy "prohibiting hate speech." At the end of the video, the victim runs away with the assailants chasing him.

The victim was taken to a hospital for a laceration to his lip, bruising and abrasions, authorities said.

Police said the motive was robbery. The attackers allegedly took a pair of gym shoes, the victim's wallet and nearly $200 in cash.

Chicago police spokesman Mike Sullivan said six teenagers were being questioned Tuesday in connection with the beating. No charges had been filed.

"At this time, it does not appear that this incident was racially motivated," a Tuesday statement from the police department said. Chicago authorities declined to discuss further details, citing a pending investigation.

Members of CeaseFire, Chicago's most well-known anti-violence advocacy group, said that it did appear race was a factor in the attack, especially because of the usage of slurs.

"People use the `N-word' whether they're African American, Latino or Asian," said CeaseFire director Tio Hardiman. "But when you beat up a guy, it's racially motivated."

On the 2009 video captured by a cellphone camera, Derrion Albert is seen being punched and hit over his head with large boards and kicked in the head. The fight broke out after classes let out of a high school on Chicago' South Side.

Four teens were sentenced to lengthy prison sentences last year in the case that sparked outrage around the country. A fifth suspect tried as a juvenile was ordered to remain imprisoned until he turns 21.

Albert's death prompted President Barack Obama to send U.S. Attorney Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan to the city to discuss ways to end the violence.

[Associated Press; By SOPHIA TAREEN]

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