Group storms school bus, threatens 12-year-old: Chicago police

A 12-year-old boy was threatened Wednesday by a group of people who broke into his school bus in West Rogers Park, according to Chicago police.

Unknown offenders stood in front of a bus in the 2800 block of West Jerome Street around 5 p.m. Wednesday and forced it to stop, police said.

They entered the bus, and then began to threaten the boy with violence. After that, a group of people got off the bus and fled the scene, police said.

There were no reports of injuries and the investigation was ongoing as of Thursday evening, police said.

A statement sent out Thursday by the Simon Wiesenthal Center said that “four men jumped on the bus, hurled anti-Semitic slurs and gave the ‘Heil Hitler’ salute.”

But police did not say whether anti-Semitic slurs or threats were used.

Ald. Debra Silverstein, 50, told the school and police Thursday night that the incident was not an anti-Semitic act and said the school sent out a message about it.

“Anti-Semitism is definitely on the rise and our community is always on high alert,” she said. “This is something our community will not tolerate and I hope it was not an anti-Semitic act. The reports I hear from the school and from the police say it didn’t happen.”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is a global Jewish human rights organization dedicated to teaching the lessons of the Nazi Holocaust and fighting anti-Semitism, the statement said.