CHICAGO (WLS) — DePaul students Max Long and Michael Kaminsky express their concerns over the uncertain future they face as they strive to pursue their studies at the university.
Over three months have passed since a horrifying incident occurred on campus, where two masked individuals carried out a violent attack that was captured on video. Long continues to grapple with the lingering effects of a severe concussion caused during the assault.
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“It’s a process with head injuries, you know. I have consistent headaches,” Long told the I-Team.
He just went for another MRI on Thursday.
Kaminsky, Long’s friend who courageously intervened during the attack, is also facing challenges. Recently, he underwent surgery to address injuries sustained to his wrist as a result of the brutal incident, which authorities from the Chicago police department have classified as a hate crime.
“I mean, one person tried to distract us from the front, as somebody else tried to run up from the back. It was, it was a terrible situation, but I had to undergo surgery,” Kaminsky told the I-Team.
Video shows the two students were blindsided in November by the men in broad daylight. They say they were advocating for peaceful dialogue about the war in Gaza.
Chicago Jewish Alliance was set to meet with DePaul officials this week to discuss a pathway for the students’ safety, but the meeting was abruptly canceled at the last minute.
“We had put up a social media post on the day before the meeting was supposed to happen, and they interpreted that social media post somehow as us not coming to the table in a collaborative way,” said Josh Weiner, co-founder of Chicago Jewish Alliance.
“It doesn’t matter how much DePaul really says that they want to help. When it comes to definitive actions, it doesn’t seem like there’s definitive actions to back up some of these claims that they’re making,” Kaminsky said.
Long says he is still attending class through Zoom for fear of personal injury.
Behind Enemy Lines is a group now banned from DePaul’s campus.
In flyers and posts, they single Long out by name, calling him a butcher. They also created a wanted poster, with Long’s photograph after the attack, and encouraged DePaul students to “get (expletive) dangerous.”
Anonymous posters online called for violence against him.
“I don’t want to be that story of the guy that survived, you know, war in Gaza, and comes back to just be, you know, stabbed in the back on this college campus,” Long said.
In a statement to the I-Team, DePaul says Public Safety has met with the students and offered support to them directly, increased safety patrols on campus and offered 24/7 safety escorts.
Long and Kaminsky say these are services available to all DePaul students. They say more needs to be done to protect Jewish students on campus.
Recent video shows Chicago police responding to campus after Behind Enemy Lines set up a table on the public sidewalk near the attack site.
“It’s not about staying neutral at this point. It’s about, you know, taking action and removing incitement and violence against students from your campus,” Long said.
“It almost feels like it’s being swept under the rug,” Kaminsky said.
DePaul says they have offered a meeting with the school president and provost to Long and Kaminsky.
That meeting has yet to be scheduled.
Behind Enemy Lines said they could not accommodate an on-camera interview, but pointed to a statement they put out after they were banned from DePaul’s campus.
It says in part, “This cowardly, clownish ban is a vein attempt to keep Behind Enemy Lines from agitating the students at DePaul.”
No arrests have been made in the attack.
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