Chicago Police accused of ‘erasing identity’ of Jewish man shot on way to synagogue

The Chicago Jewish community has expressed outrage after the Police Department named the suspect involved in Saturday’s shooting of a man on his way to synagogue without labelling the incident as a hate crime or even identifying the victim as Jewish.

“The victim was a Jewish man, who was wearing traditional Jewish garb, walking to a Jewish place of worship on the Jewish day of rest,” 50th Ward Alderwoman Debra Silverstein wrote on Wednesday in response to a tweet from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, which offered condolences to the victim but did not mention his Jewish identity.

“Don’t erase his identity and don’t try to minimise the fear and anxiety my community feels after this attack.”

Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, 22, faces 14 felony charges after officials say he shot a 39-year-old man walking to synagogue on Saturday and then fired at responding officers in Chicago’s West Rogers Park neighbourhood.

Police shot Abdallahi and he was taken to hospital in critical condition, though he was released from hospital on Saturday afternoon. He currently faces six counts of attempted first-degree murder, seven counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm and one count of aggravated battery with the discharge of a firearm.

The victim, who was shot in the shoulder, was treated in hospital and later discharged.

“Chicago Police said they would not be willing to publicly even say that this is a hate crime investigation,” said Richard Goldberg, Chicago-based senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“They acknowledged privately that this was a hate crime, but they said they cannot say that publicly because that would inflame tensions and potentially lead to accusations of Islamophobia against the Chicago Police Department.”

Goldberg has been in contact with several Jewish community leaders who met with CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling and his leadership team on Sunday in a private briefing where such comments were allegedly made.

During the meeting, convened by Silverstein and attended by Jewish leaders from Agudah of Illinois and the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago (JUF), CPD reportedly confirmed that while shooting at officers, the suspect shouted out “Allahu Akbar”. However, CPD maintains that the intention and context of the statement remain unclear.

“The statement that was made while he was engaging our officers is nothing that we could bring in as evidence at this point that would support any motive against his actions towards our officers as well as towards our victim,” Chief of Detectives Antoinette Ursitti told CNN at a news conference on Tuesday.

“This is the most toxic environment for the Jewish community in the history of the city of Chicago with the mayor, hands down,” Goldberg said.

New York Congressman Ritchie Torres also responded to Mayor Johnson’s tweet about the incident, writing on X: “Why not mention WHY the victim was shot (because he was Jewish)? Why not mention WHERE the victim was shot (en route to a synagogue)?

“Any Mayor who cannot be bothered to acknowledge the antisemitism of a hate crime against a Jewish man heading to a synagogue is unworthy of the office he holds. An act of hate against the Jewish community is an act of hate against us all,” Torres wrote on Wednesday.

Dan Goldwin, Chief Public Affairs Officer for JUF, acknowledged that the Jewish community “has problems” with Mayor Johnson, who recently appointed a new Chicago Board of Education president accused of making numerous antisemitic statements following the October 7 Hamas attack, but said that at the moment, “we have no indication that he’s pushing the scale one way or the other in terms of a hate crime charge.”

Goldwin added that JUF is pleased with CPD’s response to the incident and is “deep in its investigation to establish requisite proof” of a hate crime prior to making the charge.

“It comes down to motive. Did [the suspect] go there with an intent to kill or wound Jews? If we can establish that motive, we’ve been told by police and prosecutors that they will make the charge.

“But I really think what’s most important is that if they’re going to make the hate crime charges, we want those charges to stick. So we need to give them the space they need to investigate those charges, establish the motive, and present the requisite proof,” Goldwin said.

It is not uncommon for hate crime charges to be added after criminal charges are first filed.

Rabbi Leonard Matanky, who leads Congregation K.I.N.S. and knows the victim personally, told JTA that the community should not speculate about the likelihood of a hate crime until the investigation is finalised.

“I think the people who are proclaiming it a hate crime, I don’t know if they have information beyond what the victim has — and I’ve spoken to the victim directly — and I don’t know if they have more information than the police have,” Matanky told JTA. “And it may be [a hate crime], but at this point that hasn’t been determined yet. I don’t see any advantage of speculating while the investigation is going, is moving forward, and I know it’s moving forward quickly.”

The victim, who was shot in the shoulder, was reportedly released from hospital on Saturday afternoon. Goldwin, who has been in contact with the victim’s uncle, a prominent rabbi in the Chicago area, said the victim typically walks to shul with his two young daughters, but “for reasons unknown, this time he chose to walk alone.”

The FBI’s Chicago division is reportedly consulting with police as part of the investigation.

Silverstein, CPD and the FBI have not responded to requests for comments.

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