The two years of probation that Adam Erkan, 20, received for attacking two Jewish DePaul University students in Chicago is “regrettable” and a “profound failure,” Jewish groups in the city told JNS.
“When a convicted attacker walks away with probation and community service after admitting to a targeted assault, it signals that violence against Jews does not carry serious consequences in this city,” Daniel Schwartz, president and co-founder of the Chicago Jewish Alliance, told JNS.
“What happened inside the courtroom is a profound failure,” he said. “That message is dangerous, far beyond one campus.” (JNS sought comment from the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.)
“The guilty plea acknowledges what happened,” but “the sentence fails to match the gravity of the crime,” Schwartz said.
“Chicago cannot claim to care about equity or safety while treating violence against Jews as a low-priority offense,” he told JNS. “Targeted violence must carry meaningful consequences if Jewish people in this city are to believe they are protected.”
Jay Tcath, executive vice president of the Jewish United Fund, told JNS that it is “regrettable that a plea was accepted for punishment so far short of the maximum possible penalties,” even though it is important that Erkan pleaded guilty and that he served more than 200 days in custody.
“We have shared these concerns with the state’s attorney’s office,” he said.
Erkan pleaded guilty to battery and causing bodily harm on Tuesday and was sentenced to two years probation and 100 hours of community service, according to ABC7 Chicago. A second attacker has yet to be caught.
Michael Kaminsky and Max Long, both of whom are Jewish, were attacked by two masked assailants in November 2024. Kaminsky sustained a wrist injury that required surgery and Long suffered a concussion.
Kaminsky and Long sued DePaul in April, alleging that its “public safety officers stood idly by and watched the assault unfold.”
Gerard Filitti, senior counsel of the Lawfare Project, which is representing the students, told JNS that “we recognize and appreciate the efforts of law enforcement and prosecutors in Chicago to bring these attackers to justice.”
“While the criminal justice system is imperfect, it does show that we need to be vigilant and make sure to hold everyone accountable when hate crimes occur against the Jewish community,” he said.
JNS asked Filitti about criticism from Jewish groups that the sentencing was too light.
He told JNS that even before Oct. 7, “hate crimes have been underprosecuted across the country,” and “attacks involving Jewish victims that are motivated by bias are not always dealt with at all by law enforcement or local prosecutors.”
“This prosecution does show that it is a step in the right direction, and we do hope to get to the point where society deems that these types of attacks are as unacceptable when they target Jewish people, as they are when they target any other minority population,” Filitti said.
