The second of two assailants who viciously attacked two Jewish students on the DePaul University campus in 2024 has been arrested.
Kasem Noubani, 24, appeared in Cook County Court last week on counts of aggravated battery and two counts of a hate crime. The same charges were filed against the other attacker, Adam Erkan, who pleaded guilty in November 2025.
The incident in question took place on November 6, 2024, while Max Long, a US-born IDF lone soldier reservist, and Michael Kaminsky, a first-generation American Jew, were standing on campus with a sign encouraging people to ask them questions about being Jewish on campus, about serving in the IDF, and Israel-Palestine.
Erkan approached Kaminsky and Long to talk to them, and Noubani then attacked them from behind. Both assailants were wearing ski masks. Long was continually punched in the back of the head, even when he fell to the floor, and Kaminsky sustained an injury when he intervened.
Long suffered a brain injury and a cyst near his spinal cord, and Kaminsky has required two surgeries.
Prosecutors said DNA taken from the ski mask matched Noubani's
A DePaul public security officer stationed just 10 feet away at the time did not intervene. After the attackers fled, he came to ask if they were okay.
While Erkan was in April 2025, the hunt for Noubani had taken over a year and a half. In fact, only after his arrest was his identity revealed.
Noubani was arrested in Arkansas after he was questioned by police at a traffic stop and was then extradited to Illinois. Prosecutors said DNA taken from the ski mask matched Noubani’s.
“The arrest of the second attacker, the coward who ambushed me from behind, is a significant step toward justice,” Long told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday. “We cannot allow violence and intimidation to become normalized. Those responsible must be held accountable.”
Kaminsky concurred: “The arrest of the second individual who violently attacked Max and [me] in a hate crime attack on DePaul’s campus back in November 2024, while we attempted to engage in constructive dialogue, is a step toward justice and accountability for the entire Jewish community,” he told the Post.
“This individual took what could have been an opportunity for discussion and turned it into violence. They attempted to send a message to all Jewish students on campus and across the nation that we should not feel safe anywhere we go. Unfortunately for him, his message was not received as intended,” Kaminsky said.
“While we did everything in our power to ensure this never happens again to another student, he was the one who had to run and hide.
We are so thankful for law enforcement’s efforts to track down and arrest the second individual and look forward to the next steps,” he continued.
Long added that, for the Jewish community in Israel and across the Diaspora, “communities that have lived through years of war, terror, antisemitism, and targeted attacks,” every arrest “sends a message that justice still matters.”
“I’m grateful to law enforcement for continuing to pursue the perpetrators. I hope this serves as a deterrent to others who think hatred and violence are acceptable,” Long concluded.