Community leaders call for hate crime charge as Jewish man shot on his way to synagogue

A Chicago man has been charged with 14 felonies after allegedly shooting a Jewish man who was on his way to a local synagogue. But some community leaders are questioning why hate crime charges have not been filed.

The Chicago Police Department said Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, 22, is accused of shooting an unidentified 39-year-old man who was wearing a kippah, the Jewish skullcap, on Saturday, the Jewish sabbath, in the city’s Rogers Park district. The victim was shot multiple times and was treated in a local hospital before being discharged Saturday afternoon.

“During the shooting, the offender approached a 39-year-old male and shot him in the shoulder without saying a word,” Superintendent Larry Snelling said at a news conference Monday. Snelling said that there wasn’t enough evidence to add hate crime charges to the list but said it remained a possibility.

The suspect then opened fire on first responders before he was apprehended, police said. The suspect was shot by police and is also being treated in a local hospital. There is a detention hearing scheduled for Tuesday.

Abdallahi is charged with six counts of first degree murder and seven counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm at officers and firefighters.

50th Ward Ald. Debra Silverstein, who attends the same synagogue, told the same news conference of increased fear among local Jews. “A man wearing the kippah as he walked to synagogue was shot and this has just escalated our anxieties.”

Silverstein later wrote in a message to constituents that she was “very disappointed” that hate crime charges had not been files, despite “evidence that seems to suggest an antisemitic motive for the shooting.”

Rabbi Shlomo Soroka, of the Agudath Israel of Illinois, told NBC Chicago: “There’s no question that from an emotional standpoint, it’s disappointing. But I think it’s equally important to understand that whether or not there is a hate crime charge, that’s a technicality. That doesn’t change the reality of our experience.”

Responding to a question about rising tensions in the area, Snelling said: “We are aware of what’s going on in the world right now. And we know how that can affect neighborhoods, communities, and people of faith.

“It’s not lost on us that there’s hate paraphernalia that’s being passed around.”

The FBI said it was aware of the shooting and was working with local, state and federal law enforcement to provide resources and assistance.

“Residents of Illinois deserve to feel safe while walking our neighborhoods’ streets, and we are committed to doing our part to return a sense of calm to the community,” the agency said in a statement.

Attacks on Jews in the United States tripled in less than a year after Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas militants, according to data from the ADL Center on Extremism. Attacks on Muslims and Arabs in the U.S. also increased, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said.

Sunday marked six years since a gunman opened fire on a congregation at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, killing 11 people in the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in U.S. history.