Man, 20, charged with hate crime in attack of 2 Jewish students on DePaul campus

CHICAGO — A man has been charged in the attack of two Jewish students on DePaul University’s Lincoln Park campus last November.

Adam Erkan, 20 of Hoffman Estates, faces two felony counts of a hate crime and two felony counts of of aggravated battery with great bodily harm.

On November 6, Max Long said he was outside DePaul’s student center with another student, holding a sign and a T-shirt standing against antisemitism, when a masked individual came up and started talking to him.

According to Long, while one of the individuals distracted him, a second person came up and knocked him unconscious. Long added that at the time of the incident, a group of pro-Palestinian protestors had gathered across the street.

Following the attack, Long suffered severe bruising and a concussion. A second victim who helped Long, Michael Kaminsky, was also injured and needed surgery.

The two students sued DePaul University earlier this month, alleging that the educational institution failed to protect them. The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, April 2, seeks physical and emotional damages for the students.

Erkan is scheduled for a detention hearing Thursday.