A landlord in the Chicago region was arrested and charged with murder and hate crimes after officials said he stabbed and murdered a 6-year-old child and critically injured his mother, reportedly because the tenants were Muslim.
According to a press release from the Will County, Illinois, Sheriff’s Office, Joseph M. Czuba, 71, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two charges of a hate crime, and aggravated violence with a dangerous weapon. According to US Attorney General Merrick Garland’s announcement on Sunday, the US Justice Department has also launched a federal hate crime inquiry into the assault.
The victims were “targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis,” according to investigators’ findings.
When deputies arrived, they discovered Czuba resting on the ground near the home’s driveway, according to a statement. The two victims were transported to the hospital after being discovered in a bedroom, both with “multiple stab wounds”. The youngster was reportedly stabbed 26 times and died as a result of his wounds, according to the sheriff’s office.
The other 32-year-old victim, who suffered more than a dozen stab wounds, is making a full recovery at the hospital.
Hanaan Shahin and her son Wadea Al-Fayoume were identified as the victims in a press release by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) office in Chicago.
Shahin said the landlord “knocked on their door and when she opened, he tried to choke her and proceeded to attack her with a knife, yelling, ‘you Muslims must die,'” in texts sent to the boy’s father from the hospital following the incident.
In a statement published by the White House on Sunday, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden described themselves as “shocked and sickened” by the incident and extended their sympathies to the family. The Palestinian family “came to America seeking what we all seek—a refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace,” the White House said of them.
The presidential couple said the “horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are.” “As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred,” the statement from the White House read. “I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hate. We must be unequivocal. There is no place in America for hate against anyone.”
In the latest development, Attorney General Merrick Garlanded announced that the Justice Department opened a federal hate-crimes investigation into what led to the child’s death.
“I am heartbroken by the abhorrent killing of Wadea Al-Fayoume, a six year old child who died after being stabbed 26 times with a military-style knife,” Garland said in a statement. “On behalf of the entire Justice Department, I want to express my deepest condolences to his family and his community as they grieve his loss.”
