Pro-Palestinian attacker who assaulted IDF reservist at university sentenced to prison

Kasem Nowani, 24, from Chicago, was sentenced to 600 days in prison after pleading guilty to a hate crime for attacking an IDF reservist and a Jewish student at DePaul University in November 2024. The premeditated attack left one victim with a brain injury and the other with a broken hand. Nowani was arrested about a year and a half later in Arkansas and extradited to Illinois.

Kasem Nowani, a 24-year-old from the Chicago area, was sentenced about a week ago to 600 days in prison after pleading guilty to a hate crime for his role in the attack on an IDF reservist and another Jewish student at DePaul University in Chicago. The premeditated attack left one victim with a brain injury and his friend with a broken hand requiring surgeries. Nowani was arrested only about a year and a half after the attack, during a traffic stop in Arkansas. He was then extradited to Illinois and prosecuted. On August 4, he pleaded guilty and was sent to the Cook County Jail. The incident occurred on November 6, 2024, in broad daylight, outside the student center of DePaul University. Max Long, an IDF reservist who came to study at the university after his service in Israel, set up an information booth with his friend Michael Kaminsky. Long wore a sweatshirt reading "Stop Antisemitism," and the two held a sign inviting students: "Come talk about Israel with an IDF soldier." According to the indictment, Nowani and his accomplice Adam Arkan arrived at the scene masked after planning the attack in advance. Arkan engaged Long and Kaminsky in conversation to distract them, while Nowani emerged from behind, pounced on Long, and struck him repeatedly in the head and body. Long was knocked to the ground and lost consciousness. Kaminsky, who tried to help his friend, was also attacked and suffered a broken wrist. Long suffered a hematoma, severe concussion, and brain injury. Later, a cystic finding was discovered in the area between the brain and spinal cord. Months after the attack, he still suffered memory loss and required regular medical follow-up. Kaminsky needed surgeries for the fracture in his hand. After the attack, Arkan fled the scene in his father's car. Nowani was recorded discarding his sweatshirt and ski mask in a trash can. Investigators collected the clothing, and laboratory tests found DNA matching Nowani's. Arkan also identified him in his investigation as the person who attacked Long from behind. Arkan, who was 20 at the time of the charges, is a student at Triton College, not DePaul University. According to the indictment, security cameras recorded him arriving near campus about an hour before the attack, before putting on the ski mask, and his father identified him in the footage. Although Arkan was initially charged with serious offenses, including hate crimes and aggravated assault, under a plea deal he admitted to only two minor assault charges. Last November, he was sentenced to two years probation and 100 hours of community service. The sentence drew criticism from Jewish organizations in Chicago, who argued it did not reflect the severity of the targeted violence against Jews. Nowani, however, had a prior encounter with the justice system. Months before the attack, he participated in a pro-Palestinian protest around the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August 2024. He was among the protesters who breached a fence in the security perimeter and pleaded guilty to trespassing. In parallel to the criminal proceedings, Long and Kaminsky filed a civil lawsuit against DePaul University. They claim a university security guard stood about three meters away during the attack and did not intervene, while another guard briefly stopped one of the attackers but allowed him to leave. The two accuse the university of negligence and failure to protect Jewish and Israeli students on campus, seeking at least $50,000. The university has moved to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing it was not obligated to protect them from the attackers, but according to the latest public update, the case has not yet been decided.