Four charged after disabled teenager tortured on Facebook Live by attackers shouting Trump insults

Four suspects have been charged in connection with the kidnap and torture of a mentally disabled teenager that was broadcast on Facebook Live.

The victim, 18, was shown being beaten, stripped, taunted, threatened with a knife and forced to drink from a toilet bowl during the ordeal in Chicago, Illinois, earlier this week.

The assailants can be heard making derogatory statements against white people and Donald Trump in the footage, in an apparent effort to justify their actions.

The victim also had part of his scalp removed with a knife as he was bound, gagged and beaten.

The assault is believed to have taken place over two days until Chicago Police say they found the terrified teenager "in distress" walking along a street. He was taken to hospital following the incident.

Jordan Hill, 18, Tesfaye Cooper, 18, Brittany Covington, 18, and Tanishia Covington, 24 have been detained over the attack.

All four have each been charged with a hate crime, felony aggravated kidnapping, aggravated unlawful restraint and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, report CNN. It is thought they attended the same school as the victim.

Hill, Cooper, and Brittany Covington also face charges of residential burglary and Hill is also charged with the possession of a stolen car.

They are expected to appear before a Chicago court on Friday (6 January).

"It makes you wonder what would make individuals treat somebody like that," Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told the Associated Press (AP). "I've been a cop for 28 years, and I've seen things that you shouldn't see in a lifetime, but it still amazes me how you still see things that you just shouldn't."

Another spokesman for the force said that the four suspects had made "terrible racist statements" although they believe that the teenager was targeted because he has "special needs" rather than the colour of his skin.