Members of Chicago’s Jewish community on Monday pushed for hate crime charges to be filed after a man was shot on the city’s Far Northwest Side. NBC Chicago’s Courtney Sisk reports.
A 22-year-old Chicago man was charged with 14 felonies following a Saturday shooting that left one man wounded and a subsequent shootout with police.
Hate crime charges hadn't been filed as of Monday - despite several circumstances members of the West Ridge community believe show a hateful motive.
Sidi Mohamed Abdallah allegedly shot a Jewish man on his walk to a synagogue, Chicago police said Monday.
“During the shooting, the offender approached a 39-year-old male and shot him in the shoulder without saying a word," Chicago Police Department Superintendent Larry Snelling said.
However, Snelling said there isn't enough evidence to charge him with a hate crime. This is in part, he said, due to the suspect still being in the hospital following the shootout.
"A man wearing the Kippah as he was walking to synagogue was shot," said 50th Ward Ald. Debra Silverstein. "And this has escalated our anxiety.”
Silverstein attends the same synagogue as the victim and said her community perceives the shooting as a targeted act.
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"At the end of the day, it’s as traumatic whether or not it gets that terminology of being a hate crime," said Rabbi Shlomo Soroka of the Agudath Israel of Illinois. “My family lives here. My community lives here. We are visibly Jewish and that puts a target on our backs."
He said for now they are focusing on healing and patience as the investigation continues.
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“There’s no question that from an emotional standpoint, it’s disappointing," he said. "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.”
A detention hearing for the suspect has been scheduled for Tuesday morning.
