2nd man charged with attacking 2 Jewish students at DePaul campus in 2024

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A second man has been charged in a violent attack on two Jewish students at DePaul University in November 2024.

The ABC7 I-Team has been following their story from the very beginning.

The I-Team learned Kasem Noubani now faces battery and hate crime charges. He appeared in court Thursday.

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A pair of masked men attacked Max Long, a reservist in the Israel Defense Forces, and his friend, Michael Kaminsky.

Long was concussed and Kaminsky needed surgery after the attack.

The victims spoke with the I-Team Thursday.

"He fully came up from behind me with the intent of putting me down on, you know, putting me down and silencing me, and so that is the definition of a hate crime," Long said. "I was attacked for who I am, for being Jewish and Israeli and not being afraid to say that."

"The court has shown that and proved by charging as a hate crime that they attacked us on our beliefs," Kaminsky said. "They attacked us because we are Jewish, which is something I'm born into. I didn't pick to be Jewish. I was born a Jew."

The other man charged, Adam Erkan, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor battery charges last year.

He was sentenced to probation for two years, along with 100 hours of community service.

The I-Team learning Thursday that Erkan worked with authorities to identify Kasem Noubani as the second attacker, according to court documents. Prosecutors say he was arrested in Arkansas by police during a traffic stop and extradited back to Illinois where he now faces hate crime charges.

"In this case, we face violence in our campus, and we continue to rise up and be better than what they think that we are, be better than what they want us to be," Kaminsky said. "They view us as less than human, and we want to show them that we are more than everything that you think that we are."

Noubani was ordered detained. His next court appearance is May 14.

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