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Chicago Police Announce Hate Crime, Terror Charges Against Gunman Accused of Shooting Orthodox Jew
Brandon Johnson, Mayor of Chicago, speaks during Day 1 of the Democratic National Convention (DNC), at the United Center, in Chicago, Illinois, US, Aug. 19, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mike Segar
JNS.org — Chicago is adding one felony count each of terror and hate-crime charges to the 14 felony charges it has brought against Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, 22, who is accused of shooting a 39-year-old Jewish man who was walking to synagogue on Shabbat, Chicago Police superintendent Larry Snelling announced on Thursday.
“Since this shooting occurred, our investigative response team has worked their fingers to the bone to determine a motive,” Snelling said of the probe of Abdallahi, who is also accused of firing at police officers and paramedics on Oct. 26.
Abdallahi’s scheduled appearance in court on Tuesday was delayed, while he remains in the hospital from injuries that he sustained in a two-and-a-half-minute shootout with police officers. He is now slated to appear in court on Nov. 7, Kim Foxx, the state’s attorney for Cook County, Ill., said at a press conference at Chicago Police Department headquarters at 4:30 pm local time.
Snelling and Foxx spoke alongside Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who has faced intense criticism from the Chicago Jewish community for issuing a statement days only after the shooting and for not mentioning that the victim was visibly Jewish. Police did not initially announce hate-crime charges among the 14 felony charges.
“There must be sufficient evidence to support hate crimes and terrorism charges, and it was important we took our time to thoroughly investigate and confirm that this was indeed a crime of that nature,” Snelling said at the press conference.
“I want to make this clear to everybody here, everybody in every community: We did not secure these charges because of public pressure or because of media attention,” the superintendent said. “The responsibility that we have in law enforcement is that we will never go out in public, make statements, allegations, accusations, or attempt to bring charges without any proof of what we’re attempting to charge someone for.”
“This shooting is deeply personal to members of our Jewish community — we know that — but this shooting should be personal to everyone across the city,” Snelling added. “We have a diverse city. We live in a very diverse city, and anytime someone suffers violence, especially a shooting, we should be outraged no matter where it occurs in our neighborhoods and across our city.”
Snelling said that investigators couldn’t interview the suspect due to the injuries he sustained, so detectives went through digital evidence to establish the case.
“Evidence from the offender’s phone indicated he planned the shooting and specifically targeted people of Jewish faith,” Snelling said. “This evidence allowed us to secure the terrorism and hate crime charges.”
‘Wicked behavior’
A reporter asked Johnson, the Chicago mayor, why he didn’t initially mention that the victim was visibly Jewish, noting that Chicago officials and the Anti-Defamation League were critical of that omission.
“Well, look, it’s important to know that my responsibility as the mayor of the City of Chicago is to keep every single community safe, and I take that responsibility seriously,” Johnson said.
“It is very clear in the evidence that has been brought forward that this individual acted to not only strike fear into the Jewish community, but their action was very clear that there’s hatred towards the Jewish community,” he added. “I’m going to continue to do my part to ensure that the Jewish community knows that they are loved and seen and heard.”
Johnson said that he is “appalled and sickened by the wicked behavior that came from this individual, and as someone that comes to this job with a deep sense of faith and moral clarity, my stance in my position is lived out every single day in this job.”
“The Jewish community is not alone,” he added. “We’re standing firm with our Jewish siblings, as I’ve always had.”
Johnson has also drawn criticism from Chicago Jews for breaking a tie in the City Council in February in favor of a resolution that called for a ceasefire in Israel without referring to the hostages or to Hamas.
“My words are not as powerful as my actions, and our actions are clear,” Johnson said at the press conference. “Charges have been brought, the full force of government is on display and the Jewish community can be assured that we’re using every aspect of government to ensure that they are safe.”
He added that “there is absolutely no place in Chicago for antisemitism. There’s no place in our city for hatred directed towards our Jewish community.”
Johnson said that as a city leader, husband, and father, “”t grieves me and it breaks my heart, knowing that our Jewish community doesn’t feel safe and secure in our beloved city.”
“This is not just an attack against our beloved community of Jewish people, it’s an attack against us as a city,” he said. “Antisemitism in Chicago does not reflect the soul of Chicago. Everyone in our city deserves to feel safe.”
‘Deeply concerned’
“Hate crimes are not just crimes against an individual, but are attempts to disrupt the social fabric that unites us all,” Foxx, the county attorney, said. “By bringing terrorism charges, and I will acknowledge that it is rare that we bring terrorism charges, we underscore the gravity of targeting specific communities with violence, intended to intimidate or terrorize.”
“We understand that what happened last Saturday stoked incredible fear in the hearts of those who lived in that community, who practice the Jewish faith, in our entire city,” she said.
Sarah Van Loon, Chicago regional director of the American Jewish Committee, told JNS that “since Saturday, Chicago’s Jewish community has been seeking reassurance that authorities were investigating this attack as a hate crime because we were deeply concerned that a member of our community was violently targeted.”
“With that said, we continue to urge a thorough investigation so that justice can be served,” she said.
Debra Silverstein, the alderman of Chicago’s 50th Ward who is Jewish, also spoke at the press conference. She thanked Chicago Police for their efforts, but did not thank the mayor.
“To my community, I want to thank you for your patience. I know it’s been a very, very difficult time for all of us,” she said.
“I do just want to say one thing about the Jewish community. We are a strong, united, resilient community and we will remain that way,” she said. “I know that public safety is our highest concern, and I give my community my word that I will continue to advocate for the safety of everyone in my community, and I will work together with our friends in the police department to make sure that stays safe.”
Abdallahi has been assigned a public defender, NBC 5 Chicago reported. The defendant reportedly entered the country illegally.
“We know he’s not from Chicago,” Snelling said in response to a question. He said it would be irresponsible to comment on something that is still being investigated by the police and “federal partners.”
A WGN reporter asked the speakers at the press conference to respond to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirming to the outlet that Abdallahi is a Mauritanian national.
“What we’re doing today is announcing the charges,” Foxx, the county attorney said. “Next week, when we do the full on proffer regarding — we can confirm the information that you have. Again, this person is presumed innocent until proven guilty.”
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Trump Says US Close to a Nuclear Deal With Iran
US President Trump speaks to the media at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, Washington, DC, April 21, 2025. Photo: Andrew Leyden/ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States was getting very close to securing a nuclear deal with Iran, and Tehran had “sort of” agreed to the terms.
“We’re in very serious negotiations with Iran for long-term peace,” Trump said on a tour of the Gulf, according to a shared pool report by AFP.
“We’re getting close to maybe doing a deal without having to do this … there [are] two steps to doing this, there is a very, very nice step and there is the violent step, but I don’t want to do it the second way,” he said.
However, an Iranian source familiar with the negotiations said there were still gaps to bridge in the talks with the US. Oil prices fell by about $2 on Thursday on expectations of a US-Iran nuclear deal that could result in sanctions easing.
Talks between Iranian and US negotiators to resolve disputes over Tehran’s nuclear program ended in Oman on Sunday with further negotiations expected, officials said, as Tehran publicly insisted on continuing its uranium enrichment.
The Trump administration gave Iran a proposal for a nuclear deal during the fourth round of negotiations on Sunday, a US official and two other sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Axios.
But a senior Iranian official said Tehran had not received any fresh proposal from the United States to resolve the decades-long nuclear dispute, adding that Iran would never compromise on its right to enrich uranium on its soil.
Though Tehran and Washington have both said they prefer diplomacy to resolve the dispute, they remain divided on several red lines that negotiators will have to circumvent to reach a new deal and avert future military action.
In an interview with NBC News published on Wednesday, an adviser to Iran‘s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran was willing to agree to a deal with the US in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
Ali Shamkhani, the adviser, said Iran would commit to never making nuclear weapons and getting rid of its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, agree to enrich uranium only to the lower levels needed for civilian use and allow international inspectors to supervise the process, NBC reported.
However, the senior Iranian official told Reuters that “the idea of sending enriched uranium above 5 percent is not new and has always been part of negotiations with the US.”
“It is a complex and technical issue and depends on the other party’s readiness to effectively and verifiably lift sanctions on Iran,” the official said.
Iranian authorities have repeatedly said that among Tehran’s red lines was reducing the amount of highly enriched uranium stockpile to a level below what was agreed under Iran‘s 2015 nuclear pact with six world powers, which Trump ditched in 2018.
‘RED LINE’
US officials have publicly stated that Iran should halt uranium enrichment, a stance Iranian officials have called a “red line” asserting they will not give up what they view as Iran‘s right as a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). However, they have indicated a willingness to reduce the level of enrichment.
Iran‘s clerical establishment is ready to accept some limits on its uranium enrichment, Iranian authorities have said, but in return Tehran wants the lifting of crippling sanctions imposed since 2018 and also watertight guarantees that Trump would not again ditch a nuclear pact.
Iranian sources, close to the negotiation team, said that while Iran is prepared to offer what it considers concessions, “the issue is that America is not willing to lift major sanctions in exchange.”
Regarding the reduction of enriched uranium in storage, the Iranian sources said: “Tehran also wants it removed in several stages, which America doesn’t agree with either.”
There is also disagreement over the destination to which the highly enriched uranium would be sent, the source added.
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France to File Case Against Iran Over Citizens’ Detention
A woman walks past posters with the portraits of Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, two French citizens held in Iran, on the day of support rallies to mark their three-year detention and to demand their release, in front of the National Assembly in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. The slogan reads “Freedom for Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris.” Photo: REUTERS/Abdul Saboor
France will file a case at the World Court on Friday against Iran for violating the right to consular protection, foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said on Thursday, a bid to pressure Iran over the detention of two French citizens.
Paris has toughened its language towards Iran in recent months, notably over the advancement of Tehran’s nuclear program and its military support for Russia, but also over the detention of European citizens in the country.
Cecile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris have been held in Iran for more than three years. France has repeatedly accused Iran of holding them arbitrarily, keeping them in conditions akin to torture in Tehran’s Evin prison and not allowing proper consular protection.
Iranian officials deny these accusations.
“France will maintain pressure on the Iranian authorities until our two compatriots are freed. Their liberation is a national priority,” Lemoine told a news conference.
He said French officials would file the case on Friday at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is based in The Hague, for violating the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
Like France, Iran is party to the convention, which defines the framework for consular relations between states, including guaranteeing their right to provide proper consular protection to their citizens.
Cases at the ICJ, also known as the World Court, take years to come to a final ruling. Parties can request the court to order emergency measures to ensure that the dispute not deteriorate while the case is making its way through the United Nations’ top court.
In recent years, Iran‘s elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security.
Rights groups have accused Iran of trying to extract concessions from other countries through such arrests.
Iran denies taking prisoners to gain diplomatic leverage.
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US Would Make Gaza a ‘Freedom Zone,’ Trump Says in Qatar
US President Donald Trump walks to board Air Force One as he departs Al Udeid Air Base, en-route to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in Doha, Qatar, May 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
President Donald Trump on Thursday reiterated his desire to take over the Gaza Strip, telling a business roundtable in Qatar that the US would “make it a freedom zone” and arguing there was nothing left to save in the Palestinian territory.
Trump first pitched his Gaza idea in February, saying the US would redevelop it and relocate Palestinian residents. The plan drew condemnation from Palestinians, Arab nations, and the UN saying it would amount to ethnic cleansing.
Most of Gaza‘s 2.3 million population is internally displaced as Israel continues its military campaign against the Hamas terrorist group, which has ruled the enclave for nearly two decades. Israel began its campaign after the October 2023 Hamas attack.
Speaking to a group of officials and business leaders in Qatar, which has hosted Hamas’s political office in Doha for years, Trump said he has “concepts for Gaza that I think are very good: Make it a freedom zone, let the United States get involved.”
Trump said he had seen “aerial shots where, I mean, there’s practically no building standing. It’s not like you’re trying to save something. There’s no buildings. People are living under the rubble of buildings that collapsed, which is not acceptable.”
“I want to see that [Gaza’ be a freedom zone. And if it’s necessary, I think I’d be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone. Let some good things happen.”
Trump has previously said he wants to turn Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Many Palestinians reject any plan involving them leaving Gaza.
Commenting on Trump‘s remarks in Qatar, Hamas official Basem Naim said the president “possesses the necessary influence” to end the Gaza war and help establish a Palestinian state.
But Naim added: “Gaza is an integral part of Palestinian land — it is not real estate for sale on the open market.”
Direct US involvement in Gaza would draw Washington deeper into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and potentially mark its biggest Middle East intervention since its 2003 Iraq invasion. Many Americans view foreign entanglements with skepticism.
Israel began its campaign in Gaza following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken as hostages to Gaza.
Earlier this month, Israel approved expanded offensive plans against Hamas that might include seizing the Strip and controlling aid.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described Trump‘s idea as “a bold vision,” and has said that he and the US president have discussed which countries might be willing to take Palestinians who leave Gaza.
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