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Chicago Plays Down an Antisemitic Hate Crime
The suspect, an illegal immigrant, shouted ‘Allahu Akbar.’ The victim was headed to synagogue.
By Richard Goldberg, WSJ
Nov. 4, 2024 3:53 pm ET
A Mauritanian man who illegally entered the U.S. went to West Rogers Park, Chicago’s largest Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, on Oct. 26 and allegedly shot a man on his way to synagogue. City officials quickly began playing down what had happened. The deputy police chief, asked at a news conference if the victim was Jewish, said only that he was “from the community.” For two days after the attack, they released only the suspect’s age, 22, with no other identifying information.
When the Chicago Police Department announced felony charges on Oct. 28, the public was told only the defendant’s name—Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi—and a registered address. Police wouldn’t say if they were investigating the matter as either a hate crime or an act of terrorism. Authorities also refused to comment on doorbell-camera footage that showed the shooter yelling “Allahu Akbar,” Arabic for “God is great,” which Islamic extremists often utter while committing terrorist acts. Police suggested to Jewish leaders that labeling the event a hate crime could lead to accusations of “hate toward the Muslim faith.”
On Oct. 29 Mayor Brandon Johnson issued a statement saying that “this tragic event should have never happened” but making no mention of the victim’s Jewish identity or any other details of the case. Only on Oct. 30, four days after the attack, did Gov. J.B. Pritzker call for a hate-crime investigation.
There is a reason why Democrats in Chicago played down the shooting and restricted information about it. On Oct. 30, Fox News reported that in 2023 the suspect entered the U.S. illegally and was released into the country pursuant to the Biden-Harris administration’s immigration policies.
At some point, Mr. Abdallahi went to Chicago, a sanctuary city, and obtained a driver’s license from Illinois, a sanctuary state. Law enforcement would have known the man’s immigration status by running his identification, but instead the public was kept in the dark. No wonder: An antisemitic terrorist attack in one of America’s largest cities was made possible by Ms. Harris’s immigration policies. Talk about an October surprise.
Facing accusations of a coverup, Chicago officials organized a press conference on Oct. 31 to announce hate-crime and terrorism charges. The suspect’s phone, they said, provided conclusive evidence that the attack was premeditated and meant to target Jews. That’s all we know.
Who is Mr. Abdallahi? Authorities say he acted alone, but how did he radicalize, where did he get the gun, and who is in his social network? How many others like him are roaming freely in sanctuary cities like Chicago? Is the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force actively investigating? Has the president or vice president been briefed?
The U.S. needs this information to fend off future terrorist attacks. It is a reasonable surmise that the authorities have withheld it from the public before the election because it would further harm Ms. Harris’s reputation on immigration policy.
Mr. Goldberg, a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, served as chief of staff to former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and deputy chief of staff to former U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk.
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