Skokie police investigate antisemitic actions against juveniles at local park

A group of juveniles used antisemitic language and shot “gel pellets” from a toy gun while confronting a group of peers at a Skokie park earlier this month, according to Village of Skokie officials.

While Skokie police identified and interviewed all of the individuals involved, Village officials declined to disclose whether any charges related to the altercation were filed.

The village’s investigation into the incident, though, is now complete and “the case is closed,” a news release published on Skokie’s website on Oct. 22 said. 

The release says the incident took place around 6 p.m. on Oct. 7, when a group of kids playing basketball at Shawnee Park were approached by a second group of youths of similar age.

“During the encounter, antisemitic language was used and gel pellets were discharged toward members of the first group,” the village news release says. 

Skokie police then reportedly responded to the scene, and according to their investigation, people involved with the incident reported the gel pellets were fired from a toy “gel blaster,” said Meredith Gioia, the Village of Skokie’s communications manager, in an email to The Record.

Goia added that, because those involved are minors, the Village will not be releasing any further information about the incident.

“The Village of Skokie unequivocally condemns antisemitism, hate and bias in all forms,” the news release states. “The Village takes every report of hate or bias seriously and remains steadfast in its commitment to protecting the safety and well-being of all who live, work and visit here.”

Mayor Ann Tennes addressed the incident near the beginning of Tuesday, Oct. 21’s Village Board meeting, noting that Skokie Police have now interviewed a “multitude of individuals who either witnessed or were involved in the incident.”

“The police continue to work to bring this matter to a resolution,” Tennes said. “I appreciate the care and concern expressed by community members regarding this difficult matter.”

Information about the incident will be shared with the Skokie Human Relations Commission as part of the village’s formal Procedure for Early Identification and Intervention in Initial Incidents of Hate.

The procedure was created in part out of research into hate incidents that Trustees Khem Khoeun and Keith Robinson and former Corporation Counsel Michael Large completed in 2022. The board first approved a memorandum to create a hate speech intervention program in 2023. 

The Human Relations Commission will now review and discuss the incident and provide “recommendations to the Village on ways to engage the community through public education, dialogue, and collaboration,” the news release says.

Robinson noted during Tuesday’s meeting that the village’s procedure for early identification of hate crimes was created for precise incidents like this one, but noted that systems and procedures only go so far as “real change happens through people.”

“The fact that a group of young people targeted their peers with antisemitic language and violence is completely unacceptable and I hope as a community, and especially as adults, we must recognize that this kind of behavior is learned and it must stop,” Robinson said.

Anna Lapson, a Skokie resident of 40 years, voiced concerns about the incident during the meeting’s public comment section. 

She recalled growing up in Moscow and being singled out by other children who said “You’re not one of ours” because she had a Jewish last name. Lapson dreamed of leaving Russia so that would never happen to her children or grandchildren, she said.

“What happened in Shawnee Park is unconscionable,” Lapson said. “It’s hard to believe that it’s happening now in our own backyard.”

Social services, listed here on the Village of Skokie website, are also available to victims and their families.

“There is no place for hate in Skokie,” Tennes said in the village news release. 

“Our community has long been built on respect, inclusion and care for one another,” she said. “The Village remains committed to standing against antisemitism and all forms of bias, and to ensuring that Skokie continues to be a safe and welcoming place for everyone.”

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