Jewish leaders in Chicago welcome terrorism and hate crime charges against anti-Semitic gunman

Jewish leaders in Chicago felt a “sense of relief” Thursday when the local prosecutor upgraded charges against an illegal immigrant from Mauritius. shot a Jewish man as he walked to the synagogue to include both hate crimes and terrorism charges.

But the move has raised questions among Jewish security officials about whether the immigration status of the suspect, 22-year-old Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, should raise bigger concerns — namely whether Chicago’s status as a ‘sanctuary city’ for illegal immigrants could lead to a growing risk for the city’s Jewish community.

“If there is evidence that people are crossing the border and posing a threat to the Jewish community, that is obviously very concerning,” said Richard Priem, interim CEO of the Community Security Service, a Jewish community-based security organization that trains volunteers through the whole country, told Jewish insider.

“What this means for us is that the increased threat of violence that we have been dealing with since October 7 has just provided another example of what this means: that people can be attacked when they go to synagogue,” Priem said. “This is exactly the type of risk we train volunteers for and we will ensure we apply lessons learned during our briefings and training on the ground.”

The shooting took place on October 26 in West Rogers Park, home to one of the city’s largest Orthodox Jewish communities. After the unnamed shooting of a 39-year-old Jewish man, wounding the man’s shoulder, the 22-year-old suspect, Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he exchanged fire with police officers who responded to the first warning. shooting, according to video footage obtained by a doorbell camera.

Abdallahi was initially charged with six felony counts of attempted first-degree murder, seven felony counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm on a police officer and one felony count of aggravated discharge of a firearm.

Priem said there is “absolutely the possibility” of similar attacks, but added that CSS is not currently aware of any specific threats. “But we are preparing and anticipating that this kind of thing could happen again and we want to be prepared,” he said.

Mitch Silber, director of the Community Security Initiative, which coordinates security for Jewish communities in the New York area, said that because the shooter was a lone actor, rather than having ties to ISIS or Hamas, he doesn’t think there was ” larger lessons to be learned, beyond individual actors, are one of the most important types of threats that Jewish communities and law enforcement agencies try to protect themselves from, and you never know when they will spontaneously detonate and try to attack.”

Single actors are “a real challenge,” Silber said, “because you’re trying to find the needle in the haystack. If there is a group of a dozen people, from law enforcement and intelligence agencies, there is a much greater chance of leakage.”

Silber, who wrote a 2007 NYPD Intelligence Division report titled “Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat,” added that he doesn’t see the incident — which has only been covered sporadically by media outside Chicago – turns into a more high-profile event. news story, even with the larger implications surrounding immigration policy.

“But this certainly provides data points for those discussing immigration issues,” Silber said.

Chicago Jewish leaders on Thursday applauded the increased charges.

“Designing these acts as hate crimes is important because it shows that Americans value tolerance and stand against anyone who is targeted based on their religion. Hate crime allegations also highlight that our society and justice system reject bigotry and bigotry – an important message to convey,” Michael Masters, CEO of the Secure Community Network and former chief of staff of the Chicago Police Department, said in a statement to JI.

“The community felt that this was clearly a hate crime and an act of terror, and now the charges reflect that. As more details emerge, we will discover what led to both charges,” David Goldenberg, executive director of the Anti-Defamation League Midwest, told JI. “We have been on heightened alert for the past year, and even longer, regardless of where an attack could come from,” Goldenberg said.

Councilwoman Debra Silverstein, who represents Ward 50, the district where the shooting occurred, reiterated that the community has “always been on high alert.”

“I know this shooting has escalated everyone’s fears, but we are resilient and moving forward,” Silverstein said. “My community wanted to see hate crime charges all the time, so I think there’s a sense of relief that those charges have finally been brought. Attempted murder is a higher charge, but I think it was important for us and for the world to see that this was a hate crime.”