NBC News correspondent Ron Mott made an odd statement when discussing the four Chicago teens who kidnapped and tortured a mentally challenged young man.

Mott told wondered aloud to MSNBC’s Ali Velshi why the four suspects “made so many errors” and broadcasted their crime on Facebook Live “if they were truly trying to be criminal.”

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“Ron, let me ask you this,” Velshi posed to Mott. “The police chief originally came out and said — he called them kids, they’re really adults — but he said kids do stupid things.”

“I’m not going to get into whether it was a hate crime just yet, but stolen vehicle, burglary, all these things? This sounds a little more than stupid kids.” (RELATED: Hate Crime Charges Filed In Kidnapping, Torturing Of Chicago Teen)

“Well, you look at it on the surface and you think kids can make some really poor decisions from time to time,” Mott answered.

“But when you add in the criminal element here, the fact that they stole someone’s vehicle, the fact that they apparently broke into a house where this alleged attack took place, the fact that they, you know, physically harmed this young person, held him against his will and then apparently, you know, texted the parents demanding some sort of monetary exchange to send him home.”

“It goes beyond just stupid decisions by kids,” he added. “But because they made so many errors, if they were truly trying to be criminal, to obviously broadcast your crime is not a smart thing to do.”

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