Jewish leaders question new hate crime strategy

CHICAGO CITY HALL (WBBM Newsradio) -- Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson is rolling out a new strategy aimed at beefing up the city's response to hate crimes, but leaders of one community are asking questions about its aims and potential effectiveness.

The mayor's office announced the "Interconnected Chicago Strategy" on Tuesday, which a release said incorporates recommendations from the Chicago Commission on Human Relations. It will reportedly begin with a focus on curbing incidents of anti-Semitism and attacks on members of Chicago's Jewish community, which have become more prominent since Israel's response to the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023.

"It's encouraging to see that they're forming a 'Jewish Engagement Council,'" said Sarah Van Loon from the American Jewish Committee, but she noted her group was not consulted about the strategy, and was not aware of it until being contacted by WBBM Newsradio.

Rebecca Weininger from the Anti-Defamation League was more blunt: "I'm just as concerned as I was before, if not more. The mayor has not worked with us."

Weininger said the Johnson Administration's apparent decision to exclude what she called "mainstream" Jewish organizations is for her a red flag.

"This is a wholesale rejection of the time and the treasure that was put in by his own commission," Weininger said. "We have something that is not data supported, that does not come out of those recommendations."

The mayor's office says the Jewish Engagement Council will eventually help build a lasting effort to combat all identity-based crime. Van Loon said the amount of time it's taken to announce the strategy is also a concern, coming nearly a year after the Commission held hearings on the subject. However, she said she remains hopeful: "I really do hope it's going to be successful."