Charges were filed Tuesday against a man accused of spraying mace into a crowd of pro-Palestinian protesters who had gathered outside an Israeli solidarity event Sunday in Skokie.
Zevulen Ebert, 33, was arrested after the incident and charged Tuesday with hate crime enhancement and aggravated battery, Skokie police said.
Another man fired a single gunshot near the crowd gathered Sunday outside a banquet hall; prosecutors declined to file charges.
The conflict occurred outside an event called to show solidarity with Israel amid its war with Hamas. After the fired shot, heated words were exchanged as people exiting the Israeli solidarity event confronted the pro-Palestinian protesters. One man, who had an Israeli flag draped over his shoulders, reportedly grabbed a Palestinian flag from a protester.
When the protester tried to grab the flag back, the man pulled out a can of mace and sprayed it into the crowd, hitting several protesters, a Chicago police officer providing backup at the scene and a Sun-Times reporter.
Protesters disarmed the man, who was later taken into custody by Skokie police.
The man’s brother told the Sun-Times he and his brother “were in the wrong place at the wrong time” when they left the Israeli solidarity event and said his brother felt threatened.
Hatem Abudayyeh, national chair of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network – which had members at the protests – called the charges against Ebert “good news.”
“Racist zionists who are supporting war crimes and genocide against the Palestinian people, and who are also attacking our people here in the U.S., must be stopped,” Abudayyeh said in a statement.
Contributing: Violet Miller
