Muslim migrant who shot Jew planned to attack synagogue

Prosecutors belatedly acknowledge antisemitic motive behind unprovoked shooting of Jewish man in Chicago.

By World Israel News Staff

A Muslim migrant who illegally entered the United States was reportedly planning a massive attack on Jewish institutions in Chicago, but was stopped by police after shooting one Jewish man.

Prosecutors recently revealed that Mauritanian national Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, 22, had searched for synagogues and Jewish community centers on the days leading up to the shooting.

He had saved more than 100 antisemitic and pro-Hamas photos and videos to his phone, prosecutors said.

On October 28, Abdallahi shot a Jewish man walking to synagogue on Saturday morning in the heavily Orthodox enclave of West Rogers Park.

The victim said the attack was unprovoked, with Abdallahi not saying a word to him before the shooting.

Around 30 minutes later, while the victim was receiving treatment at the scene, Abdallahi opened fire on a group of first responders and police officers.

He was then shot multiple times by police, sustaining serious injuries which mean that he could not be interviewed by law enfrocement.

Based on digital evidence from Abdallahi’s phone, it was clear that the man had set out to murder Jews, authorities said.

“This was not anything but a planned attack … an attempted assassination of these people,” Assistant State’s Attorney Anne McCord Rodgers said in a media statement.

“This was a calculated plan, on a public street… and an attempted slaughter of that person and law enforcement officers.”

The acknowledgement that the attack was antisemitic in nature came after authorities initially failed to classify the attack as a hate crime.

Despite Abdallahi being heard shouting “Allahu Akbar” in video footage from the scene, Chicago prosecutors hesitated to acknowledge the antisemitic motive behind the attempted murder.

The original charges filed against Abdallahi did not include hate crime enhancements.

After public backlash, prosecutors added hate crimes charges to the indictment against Abdallahi.