Chicago Mayor Faces Backlash Over Response to Shooting in Jewish Community

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has come under fire after stating Wednesday offering “heartfelt prayers and thoughts” to a victim of an attack in the city’s Rogers Park neighborhood – without mentioning the victim was Jewish.

 

Users on social media have pointed out that this statement is different than a statement Johnson made last fall, in which he stated he was “devastated” by the murder of a six-year-old Palestinian American who was allegedly the victim of a “despicable hatred crime.” This “shameful hate crime is a shameful reminder of the destructive role Islamophobia has in our society.”

 

A 39-year-old man in Rogers Park, New York was attacked while wearing a kippah on his way to a synagogue. The neighborhood is known for being Orthodox Jewish. The suspect identified as Sidi Mohammed Abdallahi was 22 years old. He allegedly fired at an ambulance before police returned fire, bringing him to custody.

 

Johnson, writing on X, said: “On behalf of Chicago’s City Council and the people of Rogers Park we send our deepest sympathies and prayers to the victim and the family members of this weekend’s Rogers Park shooting incident.” This tragic incident should never have happened. We recognize the dedication of the first responders, who put their lives on the line in this shooting.

 

 

The Mayor’s Office continues to be in constant communication with the Chicago Police Department. All Chicagoans should feel protected and safe in the entire city. We are determined to improve community safety in all neighborhoods.

 

The X community added a note under the Democrat statement that said “Mayor Brandon Johnson leaves out the fact that the person in question is Jewish.”

 

The note also states that “antisemitic hatred has been rising in Chicago.”

 

The Mayor’s Office did not respond immediately to a comment request Wednesday.

 

Sources in law enforcement said that Abdallahi, a Mauritanian illegal alien, was arrested in the Border Patrol San Diego Sector in March 2023. He was then released in the U.S.

 

 

Johnson wrote in his post of October 2023 about the death of a Palestinian American that “We mourn with his family, the Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian communities within our state, as we come to terms with this unimaginable loss.”

 

According to the Associated Press, in that case, the authorities claim that a landlord from the Chicago suburb of Plainfield stabbed a child to death and tried to kill his mother as a result of their Muslim faith, and also as a reaction to the Israel-Hamas conflict. The assailant pleaded guilty to charges of hate crime and murder.

 

Debra Silverstein said that the shooting in Rogers Park was committed “on Shabbat after the Jewish holiday Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Tashrut.”

 

Silverstein is frustrated that hate crime charges still have not been filed against Abdallahi, who faces 14 felony counts including six counts of attempted murder.