Tourist Couple Attacked by Chicago Mob Say They're Traumatized: 'They Were Going to Kill Us'

A South Carolina couple visiting Chicago say they were attacked by a mob and beaten to the ground.

A South Carolina couple visiting Chicago were left traumatized after they say a mob attacked them as they left a Nordstrom department store in the city's trendy Loop district.

Ashley Knutson and her boyfriend, Devonte "DJ" Johnson, were leaving the store, intent on finding a place to eat, when someone pushed Knutson, she said.

Johnson came to her defense. "He said, 'Don't push her,' and then that was it. They went crazy, saying they were going to kill us," Knutson tells Inside Edition.

"I could not do anything because they were on me so fast," Johnson says.

Cellphone video of the incident shows the mob engulfing Knutson, who says she was beaten to the ground, as was Johnson.

The couple say they were kicked, punched and someone slapped Knutson in the face. 

Then came Lenora Dennis, who was across the street when she saw the mob attack.

"I did what a mom would do in that situation," she says. Wading into the melee and shouting at the attackers, Dennis was able to extricate the couple, put them in her car, and drive them to safety.

Knutson and Johnson were left bruised and shaken and Johnson has a black eye. The couple has established a GoFundMe account to help with medical bills.

"Obviously, I needed to be there at that moment," Dennis says.

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