After an Orthodox Jewish man was shot while going to his synagogue on the Sabbath in Rogers Park, Chicago, last weekend, the media quickly gathered and disseminated information about the victim’s background. It was the media that confirmed for the first time that the suspect, Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, 22, is a Mauritanian who was in the US illegally.
After the attack, fears arose among Chicago’s Jewish community about the lack of information from the Chicago Police Department and Mayor Brandon Johnson, who took five days to acknowledge the religious background of Abdallah’s victim, who is Jewish. Police also did not tell the public that Abdallahi was yelling when he shot the officers, refusing to confirm that Ring’s body cam video had gone viral, though he did admit that “something was said.”
Richard Goldberg, senior counsel at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that “there is a clear cover-up that will shut down the flow of information before next week’s election. They have known about the shooter’s illegal status since he released his ID.”
“This should be a national scandal,” Goldberg said.
CONTINUING is calling for an illegal alien to be charged with hate crimes in the shooting of a Jewish man.
Police are investigating a shooting incident on Oct. 26, 2024, in the West Ridge neighborhood of Chicago. (Fox32 Chicago)
Abdallah’s address, listed in police news reports, is 27 kilometers from Rogers Park. Goldberg noted that he was doing everything in his power to go as far as possible with the alleged assault.
The suspect’s alleged illegal motives became a central theme during an October 31 news conference when Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling announced the long-awaited additional charges against Abdallahi for hate crimes and terrorism, bringing the total number of charges against Abdallahi to 16.
“We did not confirm these charges because of public pressure or because of media attention,” Snelling told reporters. “Gathering evidence and facts takes time.” Snelling explained that detectives were unable to interview Abdallahi, who remains hospitalized after being shot by police. Testimony on the suspect’s phone “revealed that he was planning to shoot and target people of the Jewish faith.”
Chicago officials did not provide details on the status of Abdallah’s arrival at their news conference. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokeswoman Erin Bultje confirmed to Fox News Digital that Abdallahi was arrested while entering the country near San Ysidro in March and then released to the US.
“It’s clear what happened here,” said Goldberg, a former NSC official in the Trump administration. “We have an act of terrorism committed by someone who entered the country illegally and was allowed to stay under the Biden-Harris policies. And the officials of the second Democratic Republic saw the potential impact on the presidential election, they panicked and tried to close the door. The flow of information. But the Jewish community fought back.”
OFFICIAL OFFICIAL FOR JEWISH EXTRACTION IN DEM-CONTROLLED CITY
Chicago Police Chief Larry Snelling announced terrorism and hate crime charges against Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi after allegedly shooting an Orthodox Jewish man. (WFLD)
Just two months ago, Canadian authorities arrested a 20-year-old Pakistani man who planned to attack a Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York.
At Thursday’s news conference, a WGN reporter brought up ICE’s confirmation of Abdallahi’s Mauritanian citizenship and asked if State’s Attorney Kim Foxx plans to go along with the ICE detainer because Abdallahi is being held at the Cook County Jail.
“What we’re doing today is announcing the charges,” Foxx replied. “Next week, when we do a full operation, we can confirm the information you have.” Because the suspect is “presumed innocent until proven guilty” and “hasn’t had a chance to appear before a judge to face charges,” Foxx said, “he’s not going to provide a level of clarity that he hasn’t been given.”
Pat Brady, a former state and federal prosecutor in Illinois, confirmed to Fox News Digital that “it is not unusual for information to be made publicly available until a formal trial is held.”
Stay-at-home mom Malka Reich, who reportedly witnessed part of the attack that took place in her backyard — surveillance camera footage of the incident taken from her home has been widely circulated — told Fox News Digital that she believes “the mayor and possibly people in the federal government are trying to cover up” key aspects of the hate crime.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT FACES HATE CRIME, TERRORISM CHARGES IN CHICAGO JEWISH MAN SHOT
The victim, described by the Jewish United Fund as a “member of the Jewish community,” was reportedly shot in the shoulder in Chicago. (Fox32 Chicago)
At Thursday’s press conference, Johnson was asked why he failed to identify the victim’s religious background in previous statements. Johnson was widely condemned for sending “heartfelt thoughts and prayers” to the victim without identifying him as Jewish.
Rather than answering the question, Johnson explained that “my responsibility as mayor of Chicago is to keep the entire community safe, and I take that responsibility very seriously.” Johnson added that “fear seeks to incite and inflame and make people feel isolated and alone. But the Jewish community is not alone. We stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters as I always do.”
Johnson has received condemnation in the past for adding to anti-Semitism within Chicago, including his unsubstantiated vote in support of a January cease-fire resolution passed by the City Council.
According to the Chicago Police Department’s Hate Crime Dashboard, there were 71 anti-Semitic hate crimes in the city in 2024, up from 50 in 2023, and 39 in 2022.
Among many Jewish Chicagoans dissatisfied with early responses to Saturday’s shooting was Alderman Debra Silverstein, who spoke to Fox News Digital before Abdallah’s hate crime was announced. Silverstein expressed the feeling in Chicago’s Jewish community that “City Hall has no back.”
Silverstein is also concerned about antisemitism in Chicago Public Schools. After the Chicago City Council’s resolution was passed, students held a rally for pro-Palestinian countries where Silverstein said some Chicago students “were told not to wear blue and white” because schools “were not sure they would be able to protect them.”
Amidst the battle over the facts in Abdallah’s firing, Jewish Insider broke the story that the newly appointed president of the Chicago Board of Education, Reverend Mitchell Johnson, “had a long history of posting flaming antisemitic, anti-Israel and pro-Hamas . social media content.”
Silverstein said he quickly met with 40 aldermen and the city clerk to call for Pastor Johnson’s resignation. On October 31, the mayor revealed that he requested and received the resignation of Pastor Johnson, calling the pastor’s comments “not only hurtful but deeply disturbing.” The mayor said “anti-Semitic, hateful and inflammatory statements are unacceptable.”
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Silverstein said he “enjoyed that.” [the Rev. Johnson] resigned” but said “he was never appointed in the first place; and my question is who and how was he vetted in the beginning, and now I am concerned about the other members and the process of their vetting.”
Fox News Digital reached out repeatedly to Mayor Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker for comment and clarification on the shooting victim’s religion, Chicago’s anti-Semitism scene and other developments in the Abdallah case. No office responded.
The Chicago Police Department, responding to questions about the shooter, referred Fox News Digital to its previous news release.
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