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“He took one shot at a passerby, and according to the police,
his gun jammed,” Krishnamoorthi said at a news conference Friday
in Chicago.
Krishnamoorthi said the suspect informed a co-worker that he was
going back to finish the job, but the co-worker informed police,
who arrested Alexandros Paporakis, 19, as he was leaving his
home in Palatine that night.
“According to court documents, the manifesto that he wrote
described Indians, Jews, Black people and other minorities as,
quote, sub human,” Krishnamoorthi said.
The congressman said the shooter was radicalized by social
media, where silos of communities develop and vent hate.
“And they reinforce each other, driving up engagement and
driving up profit for those tech companies, so they are
profiting off of hate. But what we know is that hate doesn’t
just stay on the internet, it transforms into violence,”
Krishnamoorthi said.
Krishnamoorthi said Congress should close the immunity from
liability loophole that Big Tech companies enjoy under Section
230 of the Communications Decency Act.
U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Deerfield, said the federal
investment has grown from $300 million to $500 million, but the
Jewish community is doing more.
“$1 billion is being invested in security, one community, $1
billion across the country because of the threats we’re facing,”
Schneider said.
Schneider said he is a proud Jew who has lived his whole life
under the shadow of going to synagogue with armed guards.
Krishnamoorthi said the federal government has withheld
nonprofit security grants for “purely political reasons.”
State Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, said Illinois’ nonprofit
security grant program provided $20 million in its first year,
plus subsequent funding, but more is needed.
“As we start our budget conversations, looking through
opportunities to fund this program at a higher level and get
this funding out the door quicker to the communities that are
especially experiencing hate is a top priority,” Villivalam
said.
Illinois’ Not-for-Profit Security Grant Program provides up to
$150,000 per site for security upgrades to eligible nonprofits
who are deemed at high risk of a threat, attack or acts of
terrorism.
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