RantCrush Top 5: January 5, 2017

Yesterday, an incredibly disturbing Facebook Live video went viral–it showed four teenagers beating a bound and gagged man. The victim, who is mentally disabled, reportedly went to the same school as at least one of his attackers. At this point, the motives behind the attack are unknown. In the video, the attackers, who are black, yelled some anti-white and anti-Donald Trump comments, leading many to suspect that the crime was racially motivated. But after further investigation, the police don’t believe that was the case. They believe that the victim was targeted because of his disability, and that his attackers may have been trying to extort his family. The four teens are now in custody.

But #BLMKidnapping is now trending on Twitter–despite the fact that there’s no indication that the attackers were in any way connected to the Black Lives Matter movement.

In reaction to this, some people have named it a #BLMKidnapping.

But, as many point out, there’s no proof that BLM is linked to this: pic.twitter.com/TZnlGIBLD3

— Fusion (@Fusion) January 5, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.