Jewish leaders in Chicago felt a “sense of relief” on Thursday when the local prosecutor upgraded the charges against a Mauritian man, who crossed into the U.S. illegally, who shot a Jewish man walking to synagogue to include both hate crime and terrorism charges.

But the move has raised questions among Jewish security officials about whether the immigration status of the suspect, 22-year-old Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, should raise larger concerns — namely, whether Chicago’s status as a “sanctuary city” could lead to growing risk for the city’s Jewish community. 

“If there are indications that people are crossing the border and pose a threat to the Jewish community, that is of course deeply concerning,” Richard Priem, interim CEO of the Community Security Service, a Jewish community-based security organ​​ization that trains volunteers around the country, told Jewish Insider. 

“What this means for us is that the heightened threat of violence that we have been operating in since Oct. 7 just got another example of what this means — that people can be attacked going to synagogue,” Priem said. “This is exactly the kind of risk that we train volunteers for and we will make sure to apply any lessons learned in our on the ground briefings and training.”  

The shooting occurred on Oct. 26 in West Rogers Park, home to one of the city’s largest Orthodox Jewish communities. After shooting a 39-year-old Jewish man who has not been named, injuring the man’s shoulder, the 22-year-old suspect, Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, reportedly yelled “Allahu Akbar” as he exchanged fire with police officers responding to the initial shooting, according to video footage obtained by a doorbell camera. 

Abdallahi was initially charged with six felony counts of attempted murder in the first degree, seven felony counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm at a police officer and one felony count of aggravated battery discharge of a firearm.

Priem said that there is “absolutely the possibility” of similar attacks, but added that CSS is not aware of specific threats currently. “But we are preparing and anticipating that things like this might happen again and we want to be prepared,” he said.  

Mitch Silber, director of the Community Security Initiative, which coordinates security for Jewish communities in the New York region, said that because the shooter was a lone actor, rather than being affiliated with ISIS or Hamas, he does not think there are any “greater lessons to be learned other than individual actors are one of the major types of threats that Jewish communities and law enforcement are trying to protect against and you never know when they’re going to spontaneously combust and try to attack.”

Lone actors are “a real challenge,” Silber said, “because you’re trying to find the needle in the haystack. When there is a group of a dozen people, from a law enforcement and intelligence side, there’s a much better chance that there’s leakage.”  

Silber, who authored a 2007 NYPD Intelligence Division report titled “Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat,” added that he does not see the incident — which has been only sporadically covered by media outside of Chicago — turning into a more high-profile news story, even with the larger implications surrounding immigration policy. 

“But this certainly provides data points for those who argue about immigration issues,” Silber said. 

Chicago Jewish leaders applauded the upgraded charges on Thursday. 

“Designating these acts as hate crimes is important, as it signals that Americans value tolerance and oppose anyone being targeted based on their religion. Hate crime charges also emphasize that our society and justice system reject intolerance and bigotry — an important message to convey,” Michael Masters, CEO of the Secure Community Network and former chief of staff of the Chicago Police Department, said in a statement to JI. 

“The community had felt that this was clearly a hate crime and act of terror and now the charges reflect that. As more details come out we will learn what fueled both charges,” David Goldenberg, director of the Anti-Defamation League Midwest, told JI. “We’ve been at heightened alert already for the past year, and even longer, regardless of where an attack could come from,” Goldenberg said.

Alderman Debra Silverstein, who represents Ward 50, the district where the shooting occurred, echoed that the community “has always been on high alert.” 

“I know that this shooting has escalated everybody’s anxiety but we are resilient and going to keep going,” Silverstein said. “My community has wanted to see hate crime charges this whole time, so I think there is a sense of relief that those charges were finally charged. Attempted murder charges are a higher charge but I think it was important for us, and for the world, to see that there was a hate crime here.”