According to a report by the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, hate crimes are on the rise in Chicago, especially anti-Jewish incidents

CHICAGO (WLS) — According to the Chicago Commission on Human Relations’ first annual report on hate crimes and hate incidents, the number of hate crimes in the city has skyrocketed in recent years.

Reported crimes and incidents include flyers, graffiti and vandalism of Chicago landmarks. The report found that there were 109 incidents in 2021, 205 in 2022, 303 in 2023 and 124 in 2024 (as of June 15).

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“Despite this increase, only a fraction of hate crimes are reported. The reasons for this are complex,” said CCHR Commissioner Nancy Andrade.

Recently, the war between Hamas and Israel has led to a sharp rise in anti-Semitic and Islamophobic hate crimes. So far this year, there have been 50 anti-Jewish hate crimes, compared to 19 crimes against blacks and 18 crimes against gays.

“We need a clear and unambiguous stance from our leadership to protect Chicago’s Jewish population,” said 50th District Councilwoman Deborah Silverstein.

Silverstien, the city’s only Jewish councilor, said her community has implored Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration to take anti-Semitism seriously.

“We have watched the city ignore illegal encampments, inflammatory social media posts and unauthorized strikes at our public school,” she said.

City Councilwoman Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez has been accused of posting some of these inflammatory posts. She is an ally of Mayor Johnson and chair of the Human Relations Committee. In a statement, Johnson said the city stands united against hate in all forms.

Meanwhile, the commission approved 43rd District Supervisor Timmy Knudsen’s ordinance imposing fines on individuals or groups responsible for sending hate flyers.

“We know that these organized hate groups try to abide by the law. If we tighten the laws, we can prevent such incidents in the future,” Knudsen said.

Since his ordinance is the commission’s most important recommendation, Councilman Knudsen hopes to gain more support and have the measure passed in committee and by the full City Council in July.