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CHICAGO (WLS) — A group of Jewish students claims they faced religious harassment at a coffee shop near DePaul University, although the establishment’s owners have denied these allegations.
The reported incident, which is said to have escalated to physical confrontation, is currently under investigation by both the Chicago police and DePaul University.
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“I felt incredibly targeted and very uncomfortable,” shared Kylie Miller, a student from Roosevelt University.
Miller was part of a gathering of Jewish college students from three universities, including DePaul. They met last week for a social event organized by Hillel and the Jewish United Fund at a coffee shop located near the intersection of Webster and Sheffield.
Miller described how their group was encircled by others during the incident.
“They were wearing keffiyehs. They were wearing sweatshirts that had a lot of pro-Palestinian rhetoric,” Miller said. “‘Free, free Palestine,” they started chanting… Couple people saw them go up to the workers at the coffee shop and ask them, ‘How can we get them out of here?’”
Miller says someone then struck a JUF staffer.
“Fully body-checked her in the shoulder,” Miller said. “She was right next to me when it happened. I mean, I think that she ended up doing a 180.”
As her group left, Miller says they were met with more chants., including from behind the counter.
Multiple messages left by ABC7 for the owner of Olive & Oak Cafe were not returned, but the business wrote on social media, “It is deeply painful to see accusations directed at our business, especially false claims that we denied service to a customer or allowed bullying of any kind in our establishment. Kindness, hospitality, and respect are at the heart of everything we do.”
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The cafe is steps from DePaul University, which has been threatened with federal funding cuts over its handling of antisemitism complaints.
The school’s president said, “While this incident occurred off campus, I am outraged that our students were targeted and harassed because of their Jewish identity. We are working to determine whether any of the offenders are affiliated with the DePaul community.”
“This example, what happened to a group of students just enjoying a cafe, is a perfect example of why the city needs to act,” said Dan Goldwin with the Jewish United Fund.
Last week, the Chicago Commission on Human Relations issued a report with recommendations citing a 58% increase in anti-Jewish hate crimes in Chicago from 2023 to 2024.
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