As we close the books for 2016 and open a new novel for 2017, new problems and consequences from the year before will meet us face to face. For many people, this year has been smooth so far - but not for all. With the many misinterpretations surrounding the controversial election, some Americans are turning to extremes when judging each other. On January 5th, 2017, four black Chicago teens kidnapped and tortured a white disabled teen. The worst part of it all was that the horrific video was posted on Facebook. In the video, it is clear that the disabled teen was tied up in a corner with tape around his mouth while the perpetrators were ripping his sweater, kicking him, punching him, and finally slashing his scalp with a knife. Plus, the attackers made atrocious statements regarding then president-elect Donald Trump and white Americans in general.

According to CNN, "A resident in another apartment complained about the noise and the two sisters went to the home and kicked down the door. The neighbor called 911. Police responding to the call found the teen on the street wearing an inside-out tank top, shorts and sandals."He was bloodied, he was battered," Officer Michael Donnelly said. "He was very discombobulated." As of now the four teens identified as Jordan Hill, 18, Tesfaye Cooper, 18, Brittany Covington, 18, and Tanishia Covington, 24, have been charged with a hate crime, felony aggravated kidnapping, aggravated unlawful restraint and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

But the real question now is how we can prevent hate crimes like this from happening again. So far, many have blamed the Black Lives Matter movement, but police do not see any connection to it. "Many who saw the video have blamed the Black Lives Matter movement. Within 24 hours, the hashtag #BLMKidnapping was mentioned more than 480,000 times on Twitter.But on Thursday, police said they have not seen any connection to the Black Lives Matter activist group, contrary to some reports on social media. Neither the Black Lives Matter national organization nor its Chicago chapter responded to CNN's request for comment Thursday." In fact, there is the counterargument stating that if we blame BLM, then it is bound to cause more hate crimes. "A former Chicago police officer, Dimitri Roberts, slammed the notion that the Black Lives Matter movement is to blame. "This is hate. And hate doesn't have a color," Roberts said. "So for folks to talk about how this is somehow connected to Black Lives Matter is absolutely the wrong way to look at this. ... And we cannot respond to hate with hate. It's just going to perpetuate the cycle." Can this new administration finally bring the country together and clear up the controversy surrounding BLM and modern day hate crimes?