The suspect in an attack on two DePaul students last November will remain in custody after a pretrial detention hearing Thursday.
Adam Erkan, 20, will remain in custody as he awaits trial for two felony counts of a hate crime and aggravated battery for the Nov. 6 attack in Lincoln Park.
Prosecutors allege Erkan was one of two people who attacked Max Long and Michael Kaminsky outside of the university’s student center. Long and Kaminsky were holding signs visibly supporting Israel when they say two men in black ski masks approached them. What began as a conversation ultimately turned violent, according to Kaminsky.
“We were completely blindsided,” he said.
In court Thursday prosecutors claim an uncharged co-offender started hitting Long first. They say Erkan, who is not a DePaul student and not from Lincoln Park, began sharing his views that Israel is wrongly occupying Palestine. They claim he then attacked Kaminsky, who has since needed surgery on his wrist. Long suffered a concussion.
“If you’re proud of what you have to say there’s no reason to put a mask on,” Long told NBC Chicago Thursday. “(This court appearance) is a step in the right direction. But there are a lot of steps that still need to be taken.”
Those steps include the arrest of an uncharged co-offender, which Long and Kaminsky’s attorneys are hopeful will happen soon.
Prosecutors say surveillance, cell phone data, and the car Erkan was driving, which was registered to his father, linked him to the crime.
Erkan is a student at Triton College. His family is in New Jersey however his father was in court Thursday and stood up in support of his son.
The judge ruled in favor of the state on the issue of detention, noting that this attack was in the middle of the day, and that Erkan and his co-defendant planned to travel to DePaul for this purpose, and that he poses a safety risk to the public.
Erkan is due back in court April 22.
During the court hearing, co-founders of the Chicago Jewish Alliance met with DePaul’s President Robert Manual Thursday.
“We feel that the University does understand that there’s a real problem with antisemitism,” said co-founder Josh Weiner.
The attack took place several months after pro-Palestinian students erected an encampment on DePaul’s campus, following a national trend that saw students call for an end to the Israeli bombardment of Gaza in the wake of the Oct. 2023 Hamas attacks in Israel.
With respect to this attack against Long and Kaminsky in November, the university has condemned it, saying in a statement “such an act clearly defies DePaul’s values to uphold and care for the dignity of every individual.”
In a lawsuit, Long and Kaminsky report a public safety officer was present but didn’t intervene. They’re pushing for DePaul to do more to ensure people from outside the campus community can’t intimidate or harm students.
“If we can’t have these conversation here, thousands of miles away from where this conflict is taking place, then how are we ever supposed to hope for peace there?” Long said.
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