No hate crimes among 14 felony charges against Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, who allegedly shot Chicago Jew

(JNS) The Chicago Police Department is drawing criticism for the lack of hate crime charges among 14 felony charges it announced on Monday against Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, 22, who is accused of shooting a 39-year-old Jewish man and firing at police officers and paramedics.

According to a charging document that Chicago Police shared with JNS, Abdallahi is accused of six charges for attempted murder in the first degree, seven for aggravated discharge of a firearm against a police officer or firefighter and one for aggravated battery firearm discharge.

Footage of 22-year-old Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, a Muslim gunman accused of shooting a Jewish man and first responders while shouting, “Allahu akbar.” He was shot by police after allegedly open firing on them. pic.twitter.com/PyHEYbJaXS

— Wars of the World (@warsoftheworlds) October 28, 2024

The suspect is accused of shooting an Orthodox Jewish man in the shoulder as he walked to synagogue in the West Rogers Park of Chicago on Saturday morning. He is also accused of subsequently shooting at police officers and at paramedics. Later, he engaged in a two-and-a-half minute shootout with police officers, was struck multiple times by bullets and was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

At some point, the gunman was captured on a doorbell camera appearing to say “Allahu Akbar.”

Larry Snelling, the Chicago Police Department superintendent, said in a Monday press conference that the gunman shot the 39-year-old “without saying a word.”

Debra Silverstein, alderman of Chicago’s 50th Ward, which includes West Rogers Park, wrote that “notably, and despite evidence that seems to suggest an antisemitic motive for the shooting, authorities did not file hate crime charges.”

“I am very disappointed by this turn of events and strongly encourage the Cook County State’s Attorney Office to prosecute the offender to the full extent of the law,” Silverstein, who is Jewish, added. “The police have assured me that they are continuing to gather evidence, and additional charges—including hate crime charges—can still be added.”

On Sunday, Silverstein wrote that she held a Zoom meeting with Snelling and other police brass, rabbis and other communal leaders.

“The police share our disgust at a Jewish man being the victim of violence over the Jewish holidays,” she wrote. “They are dedicated to committing the resources necessary to keep our community safe and they ask for the public’s help in providing any information or footage that could aid in the investigation.”

At the Monday press conference, Snelling didn’t rule out future hate crime charges.

“The first thing is we have to find out who’s committing the crime. Secondly, we have to find the motive for the crime,” he said at the press conference. “We don’t just go in and assume that everything is a hate crime, but what we don’t do is rule out the possibility that it could be.”

The department wants “to make sure that we’re looking at all avenues and we can actually believe that this is an incident motivated by hate,” he added. “But we still have to do the investigation to gain the facts to support that belief. So it can’t just be about the belief. We have to collect evidence that supports whatever it is that we believe.”

A spokeswoman for the Jewish United Fund of Chicago told JNS that “the police are asking for the community’s assistance with information or footage that could be helpful in their investigation.”

“Hate crimes are being investigated and will be added if determined,” she said. “The Chicago Police Department has assured the Jewish community that there is currently no threat to public safety.”

Karol Markowicz, a conservative writer and podcaster, wrote that “the gunman in the shooting of the Orthodox Jewish man in Chicago is an illegal immigrant from northwest Africa,” who “crossed our southern border a year and a half ago.”

“Chicago authorities described him as ‘African’ in a call with Jewish leaders yesterday when they pressed for an identity. Lots of questions for FBI and Chicago Police Department right now,” wrote Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Goldberg added that the “FBI is involved in the investigation but everyone is staying silent. Chicago Police privately say they fear being accused of Islamophobia if they so much as confirm the case is merely being investigated as a hate crime.”