Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Smashed Car Windows Outside Chicago Synagogue Weren’t Hate Crime, Police Say

(JTA) — The smashing of two car windows outside a Chicago synagogue was not a hate crime, according to local police.

A suspect has been arrested in the vandalism this week in West Rogers Park, a neighborhood with a large Jewish population.

It was among 14 similar incidents in the neighborhood that took place over the course of May.

Police apprehended the suspect after finding him smashing windows, Alderman Debra Silverstein said in an announcement Wednesday.

“As suspected, the vandalism does not appear to have been a hate crime,” her statement said.

The vandalism occurred at about the same time as an attempted arson attack on a synagogue in another Chicago neighborhood.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.