3 white Chicago teens busted for putting noose around neck of black teen for dating white woman

Three white Chicago teens, fuming over an interracial romance, wrapped a noose around the neck of a black high school classmate at knifepoint, police said. The racially-charged assault occurred two days before Christmas 2011 when the victim was lured to one of the boy’s homes and then attacked, police said Wednesday as details of the case became public.

The three suspects — who showered the victim with racist invective while threatening his life — were arrested Jan. 10 on hate crime charges, police said. All four teens attended Brother Rice High School in Chicago. The white kids were incensed over a developing relationship between the 17-year-old victim and the cousin of one suspect, police said.

The victim told Fox Chicago News that one of the three suspects pulled a knife and warned him, “Stop talking to my cousin. You are annoying her. If you don’t stop, I’m going to kill you.” Mark Herrmann, 18, was charged as an adult with the hate crime, unlawful restraint and battery.

A 16-year-old and a 17-year-old classmate were charged with the same crimes as juveniles, with the younger one facing an additional aggravated assault count for pulling a knife, police said. The victim was beaten by the three suspects before the noose was knotted and slipped around his neck. The assailants unleashed a torrent of racist remarks during the attack, police said.

The trio refused to let the youth leave, although he eventually managed to escape and tell his family what happened. The family then went to officials at the all-boys Catholic high school to complain.