Chicago police investigating Jewish man gunned down while walking to synagogue
Fox News’ Jonathan Hunt on Chicago police investigating if the shooting of a Jewish man was a hate crime.
Jewish leaders in Chicago are calling on police to charge the illegal migrant accused of shooting a Jewish man to be charged with hate crimes, with one Jewish group slamming the city’s mayor for omitting the victim’s faith in a statement about the heinous act.
Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, an illegal migrant from Mauritania in Africa, is facing 14 felony counts, including six counts of attempted murder for shooting a Jewish man multiple times on his way to a Chicago synagogue. Local Jewish leaders believe this was a targeted hate crime, but no hate crime charges have been filed as of now.
Police say he attacked the 39-year-old male victim on Saturday morning in Chicago’s West Rogers Park neighborhood. Police said that the suspect was identified less than 30 minutes after the shooting, at which point he allegedly shot at responders before police "returned fire, striking the offender." The victim, who was wearing traditional Jewish clothing, survived the attack.
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Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson released a statement condemning the attack, expressing his "heartfelt thoughts and prayers" with the victim, but he did not mention that the victim is Jewish. (Vincent Alban/Getty Images)
Police said they recovered a weapon from the scene and that Abdallahi was "placed into custody, transported to an area hospital and subsequently charged accordingly."
The victim was shot in the shoulder and is now recovering at home, according to 50th Ward Alderman Debra Silverstein.
On Tuesday, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, released a statement condemning the attack, expressing his "heartfelt thoughts and prayers" with the victim, but he did not mention that the victim is Jewish.
That led Chicago’s Jewish Community Relations Council, an umbrella organization for 43 major Jewish organizations in the Windy City, to quickly call out the mayor’s omission.
"You failed to identify that the victim was a Jewish man, in a densely populated Jewish neighborhood, going to synagogue for Shabbat morning prayers," the group wrote on X. "What will it take for you to acknowledge the Jewish community?"
In his October 2023 post regarding the death of a Palestinian American, Johnson said, "We grieve alongside his family and the Muslim, Arab and Palestinian communities in our state as we reckon with this unthinkable loss."
In that case, authorities say a landlord in the Chicago suburb of Plainfield fatally stabbed the child and attempted to kill his mother because of their Muslim faith and as a response to the Israel-Hamas war, according to The Associated Press, which also reported that the assailant has pleaded not guilty to hate crime and murder charges.
Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson’s office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker made direct reference to the victim’s faith in a press release and came out in support of hate crime charges being added. (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
In contrast to Johnson, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who is also a Democrat, made direct reference to the victim’s faith in a press release and came out in support of hate crime charges being added.
"I am deeply troubled by the shooting of an Orthodox Jewish man as he walked to his synagogue in West Regions Park Saturday," Pritzker wrote in a statement shared on Wednesday.
"I pray for the victim, his family, and our entire Orthodox Jewish community, and I support all efforts by law enforcement to investigate and prosecute this senseless act of violence. The motivation of the shooter deserves a complete and thorough examination to determine if this should additionally be charged as a hate crime."
Other leaders in the Jewish community say the attack was targeted.
"We have faith in God, but we are scared for us; this shooting a few days ago was not just another act of violence," Rabbi Levi Mostofsky, the executive director of the Chicago Rabbinical Council, said per ABC7 Chicago.
"It wasn't just another shooting on the streets of Chicago. When a visibly Jewish individual in an otherwise pleasant neighborhood is shot unprovoked on his way to synagogue, we are terrorized."
The victim, described by the Jewish United Fund as a "Jewish community member," was reportedly shot in the shoulder in Chicago. (Fox32 Chicago)
David Goldenberg, Midwest regional Anti-Defamation League director, also suggested hate crimes be added.
"We urge, in the strongest terms possible, that CPD and others conduct a thorough investigation into the motives of these heinous crimes, and that charges be added as appropriate," Goldenberg said, per ABC7 Chicago.
The Midwest regional Anti-Defamation League also released a statement Monday, saying that the community has faced "an onslaught of antisemitism" since Oct. 7, 2023 and before.
"Synagogues have been vandalized, Jewish community members have been assaulted and harassed with anti-Semitic slurs and threats … As CPD’s investigation continues, let’s be clear: For the Jewish community, Saturday’s crime feels like a hate crime regardless of where the investigation lands."
On Monday, Silverstein said during a Monday news conference that the shooting had "shaken my community to its core."
"I am concerned by the lack of hate crimes charges in this case. While the motive is still under investigation, the community is rightfully troubled, given the nature and timing of the attack," Silverstein said.
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Police investigate a shooting on Saturday, Oct. 26 in the West Ridge neighborhood of Chicago. (Fox32 Chicago)
"While we respect the legal process and understand that charging decisions are complex, I, along with many in my community, urge that all aspects of this case be fully examined, including bias or hate-related motivations," she later added.
Four law enforcement sources say that Abdallahi was apprehended in Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector in March 2023 and was released into the U.S.
Mauritania is a majority Muslim country in northwest Africa. The Department of Homeland Security deems illegal immigrants from Mauritania as "special interest aliens" due to security concerns, and they are supposed to receive additional DHS vetting.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initially told Fox News Digital that it had no interaction with the suspect. Law enforcement sources say that there is a detainer request for Abdallahi — a request that he be transferred to ICE custody in the event of his release — but that "sanctuary" policies in Cook County, Illinois, prohibit local authorities from cooperating with it.
Fox News’ Adam Shaw, Bill Melugin, Griff Jenkins and Greg Norman contributed to this report.
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