A gunman has been dragged away after firing shots towards a crowd at a pro-Palestinian demonstration meant to counter a ‘Stand with Israel’ march in a heavily Jewish community in an Illinois city.

About 200 demonstrators showed up to hold a dueling march at the event in the city of Skokie supporting Israel in the wake of the shocking Hamas terror attack on October 7, chanting slogans like ‘Shame on you.’

The plan was for the protest to be held outside a kosher supermarket but police were keeping out anyone who didn’t have a ticket.

A man was confronted by members of the gathering at a mall across the street from the protest. 

Suddenly, he pulled out a firearm and started discharging it into the air. The gunman, who has yet to be identified, was immediately arrested. No one was injured, according to Fox 32.

A gunman was dragged away after firing shots toward a crowd at a pro-Palestinian demonstration meant to counter a ‘Stand with Israel’ march in an Illinois city on Sunday

There was also a hit-and-run at the scene of the protest, which is still under investigation, CBS Chicago reported.  

The victim of the crash was released from the scene and not transported for medical care.

Another person was taken into custody for allegedly pepper spraying at least 15 people, including a police officer.

Two civilians and the police officer sustained minor injuries. A second person was taken into custody in connection to the spraying but eventually released, according to NBC Chicago.

All three incidents are under investigation by police. 

The pro-Palestinian protesters were initially headed to a march in Chicago proper but instead decided to counter the pro-Israel protest in Skokie, which not long ago was a town with a majority of it’s population Jewish and 28 percent of its population remains of the Jewish faith.

The goal of the original pro-Israel protest was to increase peace and participation among differing groups of religions. 

‘As people of faith, we all preach a message, and hopefully we preach a message of peace, and we need to encourage peaceful coexistence regardless of what our religious background is,’ said Justin Kron with Hope In The Holy Lands. 

‘We live in a country where there is supposed to be plurality of beliefs and that we’re united together, especially in times of pain and suffering and tragedy. So that’s why we are here tonight.’ 

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The original pro-Israel event was held at the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Alison Pure-Slovin with the center was largely alright with the counter-protest.

About 200 demonstrators showed up to hold a dueling march at the event in the city of Skokie supporting Israel in the wake of the shocking Hamas terror attack on October 7

A man was confronted by members of the gathering at a mall across the street from the protest. Suddenly, he pulled out a firearm and started discharging it into the air. The gunman, who has yet to be identified, was immediately arrested

It was contentious protest in the city, which is about 15 miles north of Chicago, as at least 15 people, including a police officer, were hit with pepper spray

The original pro-Israel event was held at the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Alison Pure-Slovin with the center was worried about some who might support Hamas rather than Palestinians. 

‘I have no problem with people saying that they want to stand up for the Palestinian people, but by standing up with Hamas and terrorism, you are not standing with the Palestinian people.’ 

Pure-Slovin ultimately said that as long as they were peaceful, the protesters had a right to be heard. 

Harem Abudayyeh, national chair of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, said they simply want to be heard butbelieves Israel is guilty of war crimes and called them ‘Zionist organizations.’

‘The reason why we decided to come here today is in response to the rally in there,’ he said. 

The original pro-Israel event was held at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which over 200 pro-Palestine protesters came to counter-protest

The pro-Palestinian protesters were initially headed to a march in Chicago proper but instead decided to counter the pro-Israel protest in Skokie

‘But we’re here to say that the folks over there, the zionist organizations that are running that rally, if in this day in age, right now, today in history, if you’re doing a rally in support of Israel, essentially you’re doing a rally in support of war crimes, in support of genocide, in support of the killing of Palestinian people.’ 

Yesterday in Gaza, Israel claimed the humanitarian situation was ‘under control’ despite the death toll now passing 4,600 – more than three times the number of Israelis killed by Hamas.

Israeli forces killed six Palestinians in the occupied territory yesterday, bringing the number of deaths in the region to 91 since October 7, the Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry said.

It came as Israeli president Isaac Herzog told Sky News that Hamas were carrying instructions on how to make chemical weapons when they carried out their massacre on October 7. He said documents found on the bodies of dead fighters in kibbutz Be’eri were ‘official Al Qaeda material’ showing how to build a weapon with cyanide.