Don Lemon attends the premiere of the fourth season of the TV show "The Morning Show" in New York City, U.S., September 9, 2025. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper
(New York, New York) – A resurfaced video and interview clip is reigniting outrage over the 2017 Chicago kidnapping and torture of an autistic white teenager, after confirmation that Don Lemon publicly commented on the case by saying, “I don’t think it’s evil.”
In January 2017, an 18-year-old white man with developmental disabilities was abducted, bound, beaten, and tortured inside an apartment on Chicago’s West Side. The attack was livestreamed on Facebook, showing the victim being cut, gagged, and verbally abused while his captors mocked him.
Four suspects, Jordan Hill, Tesfaye Cooper, Brittany Covington, and Tanishia Covington – were arrested and charged with aggravated kidnapping, hate crimes, and battery. Prosecutors described the attack as brutal and deliberate, and the video sparked national condemnation at the time.
During a televised discussion following the incident, Don Lemon addressed the case and stated on air that he did not believe the attack was “evil,” a remark that stunned viewers and critics. The comment has since been verified via archived video, prompting renewed backlash as the clip circulates online years later.
Critics argue the remark downplayed the severity of a violent hate crime against a disabled victim, while defenders at the time claimed Lemon was attempting to frame the attackers’ behavior as ignorance rather than ideology. The statement, however, remains controversial given the graphic nature of the assault.
The clip is now resurfacing and going viral amid Don Lemon’s controversial part in going inside a church in Minneapolis alongside a protest and interviewing churchgoers during their Sunday Service.
