In condemning the shooting, Mayor Brandon Johnson failed to mention that the victim was shot because he was Jewish and that he was en route to a synagogue.

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 Orthodox Jewish man walking to a Far North Side synagogue on Shabbat last weekend and firing at police officers and paramedics.

The shooter is reportedly an illegal immigrant from northwest Africa.

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

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.
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.”

Also Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was denounced by Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) for his failure to call the shooting an antisemitic attack. CAM Chief Government Affairs Officer Lisa Katz issued the following statement on Thursday: “Mayor Brandon Johnson’s failure to recognize and condemn the antisemitic nature of the shooting of a Jewish man on his way to synagogue on Saturday marks a disturbing abdication of his civic duty to be a leader for all Chicagoans.’’

‘’The first step to fighting antisemitism is identifying it, yet Mayor Johnson proved to be incapable of this essential task, even when faced with a blatant incident of violence targeting Jews. Furthermore, the recent appointment by Mayor Johnson of a School Board president with a history of online antisemitic rhetoric only adds to the concerns of the Jewish community of Chicago and beyond,’’ she added.

Chicago’s Mayor has had a rocky relationship with local Jewish leaders. In January, Johnson cast the tie-breaking vote to pass a resolution in the city council calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, making Chicago the largest US city to do so. The resolution drew rebukes from local Jewish groups. During the summer,ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Johnson called the war in Gaza “genocidal,” a charge that Israel has strongly denied.

Lisa Katz said that this situation in Chicago ‘’underscores the urgent need for municipal leaders to be equipped with the knowledge and tools to understand and confront all forms of contemporary antisemitism.’’

The Combat Antisemitism Movement is to host more than 200 mayors in Beverly Hills, California, in December for the 2024 Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism, which will focus on collaborative cities-oriented approaches to the common mission of securing and nurturing Jewish life in cities across North America.

JNS contributed to this report.