Larry Snelling, superintendent of the Chicago Police Department, announced that the city is adding one felony count of terrorism and one felony count of a hate crime to the 14 felony charges brought against Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi.
Abdallahi, 22, is accused of shooting a 39-year-old Jewish man, as well as firing at police officers and paramedics on Oct. 26. Snelling said that investigators found evidence on the accused gunman’s phone that indicated that he deliberately targeted Jews.
“We did not secure these charges because of public pressure” or media coverage, the police official said, speaking at a press conference at 4:30 p.m. local time at Chicago Police Department headquarters.
“We want everybody to know that we will never tolerate violence that’s rooted in hate and bigotry,” he said, noting that the crime affects the Jewish community in particular. “This shooting should be personal to everybody across the city,” he added.
“We did not rush to judgment,” Snelling said “We made sure that we continued the investigation.”
Snelling spoke alongside Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Kim Foxx, the state’s attorney for Cook County, Ill.
The mayor has faced intense criticism from the Chicago Jewish community for issuing a statement days later, which didn’t note that the victim was visibly Jewish. Police did not initially announced hate crime charges among the 14 felony charges.
Abdallahi’s scheduled appearance in court was delayed, while he remains in the hospital, and he now slated to appear in court on Nov. 7, NBC 5 Chicago reported. Abdallahi, who was hit multiple times during a two-and-a-half minute shootout with police officers, has been assigned a public defender, per the news station.
(JNS)