Chicago, IL – Police were questioning five people in the overnight robbery of a man on a Red Line train on the Near North Side in what was being investigated as a possible hate crime.
One of them had the victim’s cell phone on him when Public Transportation Section officers arrested the four juveniles and an adult as they tried to leave the Grand Avenue subway station a little after midnight, police said.
The victim, a man in his 20s, was riding a northbound Red Line train about midnight Tuesday when a group of teenage boys began hovering around him, with one grabbing his cell phone, police said. The man resisted, and another of the five punched him in the face, police said.
Investigators were trying to determine if the attackers, who are black, might have targeted the man, who is white and was wearing a yarmulke, because of his Jewish ethnicity, police said.
After the robbery, one of the five held open the doors of the “L” train at the Grand Avenue stop as the others ran from the train, police said. The victim got off the train at Division and walked up to the street, where he flagged down Near North District patrol officers, police said.
The patrol officers sent out a flash message giving a description of the man’s attackers, and Public Transportation officers responded, police said. The transportation officers caught the five suspects as they tried to leave the Grand Avenue stop.
The victim identified the five as his attackers, and they were being questioned this morning.
UPDATE 11:40AM EST: An 18-year-old and four juveniles have been charged in connection with the overnight robbery on the Near North Side.
Police originally had raised the possibility that the robbery was a hate crime, but this morning said it wasn’t.
Charged with misdemeanor assault was Michael McCann, 18, of the 7100 block of South Calumet Avenue. In addition, four juveniles–ages 13, 14, 14, and 15–were charged with robbery, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Robert Perez.
(Source: Chicago Tribune / Chicago Breaking News)
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15 Responses
They should be treated like any other anti-semite. It is nice to hear that even from Chicago there is concern for anti-semitism.
According to a later version of this story at the Chicago Tribune Web site:
“Investigators originally thought the suspects might have targeted the man, who is white and was wearing a yarmulke, because of his Jewish ethnicity, police said. But this morning police said that did not appear to be the case.”
Regardless, the warning of CHAZAL — “Talmid Chacham Al Yehaleich Yechidi BaLaylah” — applies to our modern urban jungles.
Also, after moving to Chicago from New York years ago, I was told to wear a hat — rather than a Yarmulka — in public places at all times.
Shouldn’t it be investigated as likely a racially motivated event even if they perceived the Hebrew man to be a Caucasian? Don’t Caucasian’s have rights to freely travel the subways?
I think what they meant is that they didn’t rob him because he’s Jewish, they robbed him because he was an easy target, so his race had nothing to do with it. It wasn’t a “Let’s get the Jew” thing.
BSD These guys should be sentenced to do community work in another minority community. They can experience what it is like to be in various ethnic communities. They should then continue their community service in the JEWISH community. After this, send to prison where they’ll have a long time to think about what they did (if they even care). I do not believe they did not know this man is Jewish. He’s wearing a yahrmulke out in the open for all to see. What? They didn’t know what it is? Maybe they didn’t know the essence of what it means, but I am sure they realize it is some sort of religious thing. They had a choice, pick on any white guy that night, or pick on the one that really stands out, or do nothing at all.
I see they need a class on decision making.
I’ve lived in Chicago for quite a while. There is no place here that I would ever go, that I wouldn’t go with a yarmulke. There are places I wouldn’t go at all, (and I’ve had to go to some pretty deep dark locations for business)but if I would go there, the Yarmulke is not an issue. Yeah the Nazis marched in Skokie, but that was 30 years ago.
Chicago doesn’t have ‘letter’ or ‘number’ trains, they have mostly if not all ‘ELEVATED’ trains. Thus, this didn’t happen on the ‘L’ train, rather it happened on the ‘El’ which is short for “Elevated.’
“the attackers, who are black, might have targeted the man, who is white” Who cares about the colors of either of them?!?
8, You must be in lala land like our fearless leader who has problems understanding reality.
#9, instead of telling me which land I am in, please answer my question!
Mark Levin obviously hasn’t been here for quite a while. The trains are all know by colors now, and have been so for probably 10 years. The old Ravenswood is now the brown line. Ohare-congress is blue. Midway is Orange. And the train from 95th Street on the southside to Howard Street on the north is called the Red Line.
#11, we are talking about the colors of people NOT TRAINS!
11, I try not to be in chicago but that doesnt work as well as I would like. I knew they have colors, in fact, I dont recall them NOT having colors.
8 & 10,
If you think the fact that the creeps who attacked this white guy are black is not important to the story, you ARE in la la land.
We live in the REAL world and unfortunately, this is REAL.
#14, you still didn’t answer my question. WHY is it important?