If the police investigation “comes back that it was religiously motivated, I fully expect Chicago Police, in coordination with the state attorney’s office, to prosecute as a hate crime,” Nasatir told JNS.
Neighbors interceding to help the Jewish victim “shows the spirit of that community. It is a tight-knit community, by and large, and they do have each other’s backs,” Nasatir said. “If it is a Jewish person targeted, if it’s a Pakistani person—there’s a Pakistani population—I think all communities rally behind each other, especially when it comes to religiously-motivated crimes, which surely this indicates that it may be.”
“It’s a neighborhood that’s been around Chicago for a long time,” he added. “It has a storied past, and it’s always had a Jewish connection, and now it has this very diverse feel as well, where people from all over the world congregate.”
GayJew
Article URL : https://www.jns.org/jewish-chicagoan-39-reportedly-shot-en-route-to-synagogue-on-shabbat/