Attorneys Want 4 Charged in Facebook Live Attack Released From Jail

The public defenders said they want their clients released because they "are young people who do not deserve to be there"

Attorneys for the four suspects charged in a brutal attack streamed live on Facebook said after court Friday they want the group released from jail. 

The public defenders held a news conference after the Friday hearing saying they want their clients released because they "are young people who do not deserve to be there."

The attorneys argued the group should not be tried in the media and noted that in the days following their arrests, they have seen death threats spread across the Internet. 

In court Friday, a judge ordered that sketches of the suspects not show their faces. State prosecutors agreed to proceed with an indictment while attorneys for the four asked that 911 tapes be preserved. 

The group is expected to appear in court again Feb. 10. 

Sisters Tanishia and Brittany Covington, Jordan Hill and Tesfaye Cooper face hate crime charges, as well as kidnapping and battery after Cook County prosecutors identified them as four black suspects seen in a racially charged attack on a white teenager that was broadcast live on social media. 

Prosecutors say the group kidnapped and tortured a suburban 18-year old who has mental disabilities in the video, now seen by millions. 

A Cook County judge ruled because of safety and security concerns, cameras will not be allowed in the courtroom.

Lawyers for the defendants didn't want them shown because they say it could contaminate the jury pool.

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