ROGERS PARK — Tesfaye Cooper, one of four accused of kidnapping and torturing a mentally disabled man while streaming live on Facebook, has posted violent videos online before — many with ties to a slain Rogers Park rapper and gangster who left a wave of destruction in his wake.
Throughout the disturbing video in which four adults physically abuse and berate a man while holding him against his will in a West Side apartment, Cooper identifies himself as "PBG Hothead," a reference to slain rapper Shaquan Thomas, aka Young Pappy, and his "Pooh Bear Gang" faction based on the Far North Side.
Cooper and others make reference to rivals on Howard Street and Thorndale Avenue in the Facebook Live video that has made international headlines.
In the most recent video posted under Cooper's YouTube channel PGB Ent. from Oct. 22, Cooper and a friend are seen wielding rifles inside a home.
"Boom, I'll put a bullet in your a--," he said into the camera, pointing the barrel of the gun at the camera.
Other posts include music videos in which Cooper raps, threatening to kill his enemies for disrespecting him and others in his crew.
RELATED: The Violent Life and Death of Notorious Rogers Park Rapper Young Pappy
The four people accused of the videotaped torture of a mentally disabled suburban man — Jordan Hall, 18; Cooper, 18; and sisters Brittany Covington, 28, Tanishia Covington, 24 — have been charged with hate crime, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated unlawful restraint, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, robbery, possessing a stolen car and residential burglary, according to the Cook County State's Attorney's Office.
The last things Tanishia Covington posted on her Facebook page in the early morning hours of Tuesday were a video for Cooper's song called, "GoCrazy" and another video from PBG members along with the words, "Listen up like Trump."
On Tesfaye Cooper's Facebook page, which uses the name Benjamin Carter (under which some of his music videos appear, too) photos show him pointing guns and paying homage to high-profile gang figures from the Far North Side.
Some videos are tributes to Young Pappy, who was killed in May of 2015 after being linked to years of violence on the North Side — which left innocent bystanders dead — and dozens of music videos that taunted his rivals.
After Pappy's death, an already-simmering social media war boiled over with a series of gang-fueled slayings across Rogers Park, Edgewater, West Ridge, Uptown and surrounding suburbs like Skokie and Evanston. Dozens of shootings and multiple murders linked to Pappy's crew were reported in the months following his death.
Cooper and the other three accused are due back in court Friday.
Thursday night the victim's family said they were relieved he was back home.
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