As president of the Chicago Loop Synagogue, Lee Zoldan worries about growing the 800-person congregation and getting the bills in order.
She didn’t think her role would also include assisting police in the middle of the night after a vandal broke a window and put several swastika stickers on the front door of the downtown building — the first time it’s been the target of a suspected hate crime since opening in 1959.
"I was stunned," Zoldan said at a Sunday news conference announcing two rewards totaling $3,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the suspect. "You don’t expect something like this … this has never happened to us. I was trying to process it."
Community activist Raul Montes Jr. contributed $500, and the Anti-Defamation League offered $2,500.
Police responded to the synagogue in the first block of South Clark Street shortly before 12:30 a.m Saturday to find the damage.
A surveillance camera hanging from the synagogue captured video of a man parking a dark-colored SUV, possibly a Toyota Highlander, in front of the building before briskly walking up to it, placing something on the door and smashing a window.
The man in the video is wearing a head mask and retrieved a metal object from his pocket before swinging twice at the window. He ran back to his car and drove away.
Police collected license plate information and are processing some fingerprints from the scene, Zoldan said.
Police release video of suspect in hate-crime vandalism at synagogue in the Loop Deanese Williams-Harris
Police on Saturday afternoon released video of a person wanted in an incident in which a window was broken out and swastika stickers were placed on the front door of a synagogue in Chicago’s Loop neighborhood.
Shortly before 12:30 a.m. Saturday, officers responded to the synagogue in the first…
Police on Saturday afternoon released video of a person wanted in an incident in which a window was broken out and swastika stickers were placed on the front door of a synagogue in Chicago’s Loop neighborhood.
Shortly before 12:30 a.m. Saturday, officers responded to the synagogue in the first…
(Deanese Williams-Harris)
Montes said he wants to draw more urgency to the case.
"This is blatantly anti-Semitic and totally beyond comprehension and will not be tolerated," Montes said Sunday, standing in front of a dozen congregants and supporters. "This is a hate crime. This should not have occurred nowhere."
The synagogue is hosting an interfaith event Wednesday at noon, which will feature indoor speakers rallying for unity around the incident.
Jenan Mohajir, a Muslim woman, stopped by the synagogue Sunday with her husband and three young children to drop off a bouquet of yellow flowers. Mohajir, 36, of Kenwood said she wanted to do something to show solidarity.
"We’re here because this is not an acceptable way to treat each other," said Mohajir, who works at an interfaith youth network. "Chicago is our city, and we won’t stand for this type of hate in our city."
As news of the vandalism spread, Zoldan said the synagogue began to receive countless emails and messages of support in addition to a batch of letters written by Muslim children.
Police responded to the Chicago Loop Synagogue in the first block of South Clark Street early on Feb. 4, 2017, to find a broken window and several swastika stickers on the front door of the downtown building. As news of the vandalism spread, the synagogue has receive countless emails and messages of support.
Initially, police were conducting a property damage investigation, but the incident is now being investigated as a hate crime.
"If there’s anything good that can come out of the hate crime, it’s been the outpouring of love that we’ve seen from around the city, around the country and actually around the world," Zoldan said. "We look forward to bringing this person to justice."
echerney@chicagotribune.com
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