Police data shows Chicago's West Ridge has become a hotbed of anti-Jewish hate crimes

The number of anti-Jewish hate crimes in Chicago has risen sharply this year, with 70 documented incidents, a 46% increase from last year's high of 48, and 2024 is two months away.

The West Ridge community has recorded a dozen anti-Jewish hate crimes so far this year, including two assaults, a bomb threat and vandalism of property and a car, according to a CBS News Data Team analysis of Chicago police hate crime data.

West Ridge was shaken afterward A 39-year-old Jewish man was shot in the shoulder on Saturday. The suspect in this shooting, 22-year-old Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, is said to have opened fire on police officers and paramedics before committing the crime seriously shot by the police.

Abdallahi was charged with six counts of attempted first-degree murder, seven counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm and aggravated assault.

At least one Chicago city councilman has called for hate crime charges to be filed. Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling on Monday did not rule out the possibility of additional charges but said the investigation is ongoing.

There have been dozens of reported anti-Jewish hate crimes in Chicago so far this year, including 16 criminal defacements, four bomb threats, two incidents of vandalism at institutions including a house of worship and a school, and four incidents of car damage, according to an analysis of police data.

This was revealed by an audit by the Anti-Defamation League an increase in anti-Semitic incidents in Illinois last year, a 74% increase from 2022. Earlier this month an anti-Israel message appeared on a digital billboard in suburban Northbrook.

The rise in anti-Jewish hate crimes in Chicago preceded the Israel-Gaza conflict that began after the October 7 Hamas attacks, rising from eight to 37 incidents in 2022 and again to 48 incidents in 2023.

Chicago Police Department hate crime data is only available starting in 2012.

Meanwhile, anti-Arab and anti-Muslim crimes also rose to 20 incidents last year, up from eight in 2022. So far this year, 11 anti-Arab and anti-Muslim hate crimes have been confirmed by police, including the destruction of a Palestinian café last Friday.