Suspect in 2024 attack of two Jewish students on DePaul University's campus pleads guilty battery
The suspect who attacked two Jewish students on DePaul's campus last year has now pleaded guilty, but only to less serious charges.
Adam Erkan, who was wearing a ski mask at the time, was facing felony hate crime charges for his role in attacking two Jewish students at DePaul University in the fall of 2024. Now, he has pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of battery. His initial hate crime charges have been dropped.
"I think it's, at the very least, a step in the right direction for some sort of closure. You know, it's not the end of the book, but it may be the end of a page," said student Michael Kaminsky.
Kaminsky and Max Long, who is a reservist in the Israeli Defense Forces, were attacked on campus while showing support for Israel. They were holding a sign that said "Ask me anything about Israel."
"It's critical for us to be out there and be sharing what happened to us so this doesn't happen again," Long said.
"We want to be promoting the idea that people can speak freely on their campus without being discriminated, being harassed, being doxxed," Kaminsky said.
Erkan served over seven months in custody. He will be on probation for two years and perform over 100 hours of community service.
"When a hate crime disappears from a hate-motivated assault that isn't nuanced, that's sanitizing the truth," said Daniel Schwartz with the Chicago Jewish Alliance. "They weren't agitating, they weren't being provocative. These masked men came up to these two individuals and assaulted them."
While Erkan was caught and charged, the second suspect who hit the students has not been charged. Kaminsky and Long are pushing for charges against that person.
"It's incredibly urgent that we demand that the second perpetrator is also brought to justice soon. You can only run for so long," Kaminsky said.
Kaminsky and Long filed a lawsuit against DePaul, accusing the school of failing to protect them.
Jaclyn Clark is an attorney with the Lawfare Project.
"We really intend to use the full extent of the law, both civil and criminal, to ensure that the conditions that led to this attack are addressed properly and never repeated," she said.
Erkan's attorney said his client has taken full responsibility and believes the other suspect, who has yet to be charged, was the ringleader and more dangerous.