CNN —
Two Jewish students at DePaul University in Chicago who were “visibly showing their support for Israel” were targeted Wednesday by masked attackers, according to a statement from the university’s president.
The students, two men in their 20s, were assaulted by unknown assailants who struck one victim in the face and body and pushed the other one to the ground before running off, the Chicago Police Department said, adding both declined emergency medical aid.
“We are outraged that this occurred on our campus,” university President Robert L. Manuel said in a statement. “It is completely unacceptable and a violation of DePaul’s values to uphold and care for the dignity of every individual.”
“The university is actively working with the Chicago Police Department to investigate this incident so that they can determine whether to classify it as a hate crime that targeted our students because of their Jewish identity,” Manuel said.
The incident – on the Lincoln Park campus – is being classified as simple battery as the investigation continues, Chicago police said. Police in its news release did not say whether the assailants wore masks.
How the victims were showing support for Israel was not immediately clear.
The campus witnessed tensions earlier this year when authorities dismantled a student-led encampment in May, following over two weeks of demonstrations calling for the university’s divestment from companies with ties to Israel. The encampment was one of the last remaining encampments in the Chicago area at a time when college campuses across the US were experiencing such protests, according to CNN affiliate WLS.
Wednesday’s incident comes as tensions in the Middle East rage on, with Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza yielding a dire humanitarian crisis while stoking global advocacy from supporters of Israel and Palestinians, many in support of a ceasefire.
It follows an alleged hate crime incident in nearby West Rogers Park, where a suspect has been charged in an attack last month on a Jewish man en route to a synagogue.
Threats to Jews in the United States tripled in the year after the deadly October 7 terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas, preliminary data provided to CNN by the Anti-Defamation League shows. The Council on American-Islamic Relations got 8,061 reports of anti-Muslim bias in 2023, the highest number in the 28 years the group has tracked hate, it said in April.
“We will do all we can to hold those responsible accountable for this outrageous incident,” the DePaul president said Wednesday.
CNN has reached out to the state’s attorney’s office for comment.
This story has been updated with additional information.