[IsraelTimes] Adam Erkan, 20, allegedly assaulted two students in November; one of the students says he’s afraid of attending classes on campus because of antisemitic threats against him
One of the men who allegedly beat two Jewish DePaul University students after one showed support for Israel last November has been charged with a hate crime.
Adam Erkan, 20, has been charged with two counts of aggravated battery and hate crime, the Cook County State Attorney’s Office announced this week.
The arrest comes as DePaul’s president has been summoned to testify in Congress about antisemitism on his campus. Robert Manuel is scheduled to appear on May 7 before a House committee that set the tenor for federal scrutiny of antisemitism on college campuses in the aftermath of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
The arrest also comes two weeks after the students who were allegedly attacked in November, Max Long and Michael Kaminsky, filed a lawsuit against DePaul, saying that the Jesuit university failed to protect Jewish students on campus.
DePaul denounced the attack when it was reported, saying the school was “outraged” and was working with Chicago police to find the perpetrators and determine whether the individuals “targeted our students because of their Jewish identity.”
On Thursday, the school said Erkan was not affiliated with DePaul and expressed gratitude to law enforcement. “Acts of hate and violence have no place at DePaul,” the school said in a statement. “We condemn antisemitism in all its forms and stand in solidarity with those affected by this reprehensible act.”
Long is an IDF reservist who was in Israel when Hamas attacked. He operates a nonprofit that aims to help lone soldiers — those who move to Israel from abroad without their families to enlist in the IDF. Since October 7, amid growing criticism of the IDF and backlash against its soldiers abroad, he has worked to bring reservists to college campuses to share their stories.
On his own campus, he made a habit of draping himself in an Israeli flag and holding a sign that said, “Come talk about Israel with an IDF soldier.” He was engaged in that work outside DePaul’s student center in November when two masked individuals allegedly shouted antisemitic remarks and proceeded to punch him. Kaminsky then allegedly stepped in to help Long. The students declined medical treatment at the scene, DePaul said, but Kaminsky discovered a fractured wrist that required surgery, while Long said he had suffered a concussion with long-lasting effects.
Following the attack, several Jewish organizations protested on DePaul’s campus to demand action against antisemitism. Last month, the school barred a Chicago pro-Palestinian activist group, Behind Enemy Lines, from its campus. And the nonprofit Lawfare Project, representing Jews seeking civil rights redress, took up the Jewish students’ case.
Kaminsky and Long’s lawsuit against DePaul alleges that the school failed to protect the students despite a pattern of prior threats and harassment against Long. The lawsuit alleges that, since the attack, students have posted fliers describing Long as “wanted” and accusing him of being an “IDF butcher.” He told local news that he was so fearful of physical attacks that he dropped a course that required him to be on campus.
Now that one of the alleged perpetrators has been arrested, Kaminsky — a criminal justice major who recently received the “Student Activist of the Year” award from the Combat Antisemitism Movement — said he felt some relief.
“I think there is a little sigh of relief knowing that one of the two violent perpetrators who went out of their way to attack two Jewish students is now off the streets for the time being,” Kaminsky told ABC News following Erkan’s arrest.
A judge has ordered the man accused of attacking two Jewish students on DePaul University's Lincoln Park campus to be detained. Adam Erkan, 20, is facing aggravated battery and hate crime charges nearly five months after the attack.
Chicago police allege it was Erkan, a student studying cybersecurity at Triton College, who beat students Max Long and Michael Kaminsky, one of them an Israeli soldier, late last year, leaving them with a concussion and broken wrist.
Video shows that violent encounter from Nov. 6. It shows two masked men beat and knock down Long and Kaminsky.
The two said they were advocating for conversation outside the university's Student Center about the Israel-Hamas War.
On Thursday, a judge ordered Erkan to be detained in Cook County Jail until his next hearing April 22 in Skokie, calling him a danger. Judge James Costello said he couldn't think of a scenario to release Erkan and guarantee students' safety.
In court, prosecutors spelled out the details of Erkan's movements in what the judge deemed a "concentrated plan."
Prosecutors said Erkan, cloaked in a ski mask, initiated a conversation with Long. The second suspect, who remains at large, knocked Long to the ground, unconscious, prosecutors said. As that happened, prosecutors say Erkan beat Kaminsky, and they say both attackers continued to beat Long and Kaminsky before running off.
Prosecutors say Erkan and his co-assailant's sprint from campus was captured on surveillance video. Some of the clothes the second man is seen wearing, they say, were found in a trashcan nearby, and video shows Erkan's SUV speeding off.
Erkan has hired a private attorney.
His father, who lives in New Jersey, was also in court Thursday.
Prosecutors said Erkan was seen near the scene in a car registered to his father, and that's partially how he was tracked down. Prosecutors said Erkan's father identified his son in surveillance video in February. The vehicle was traced to Hoffman Estates.
Another suspect remains at large, who was in Tinley Park for part of the day of the attack, prosecutors said. Erkan and the other suspect spoke on the phone that day, prosecutors said. Police have a warrant for Erkan's phone and watch, but have not yet been able to access them.
Erkan has been ordered not to have contact with the victims or witnesses in the attack. He has no prior criminal history, his attorney said.
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