A 71-year-old Chicago man allegedly shouted, “You Muslims must die!” before fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy and wounding his 32-year-old mother, in a tragedy apparently inspired by the Hamas-Israel war is influenced.
According to an autopsy Sunday, the boy, identified by CAIR’s local chapter as Wadea Al-Fayoume, was pronounced dead at the hospital after being stabbed 26 times with a large military knife by Joseph M. Czuba.
“Investigators were able to determine that both victims of this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to their being Muslims and the ongoing Middle East conflict between Hamas and Israelis,” the Will County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement posted on social media.
Officers found both victims late Saturday morning at a home in an unincorporated area of Plainfield Township, about 40 miles southwest of Chicago.
The woman had more than a dozen stab wounds on her body. She remained hospitalized Sunday but was expected to survive.
Police on Sunday charged 71-year-old Chicago resident Joseph M. Czuba (pictured left) with a hate crime for fatally stabbing 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume (pictured right) and his 32-year-old mother had seriously injured. in a crime where local authorities believe the killer was influenced by the war between Israel and Hamas
Czuba was found outside Saturday “sitting upright on the ground near the driveway of the residence” with a cut on his forehead, police said.
He was in custody on Sunday awaiting his court appearance. Police charged him with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crime and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The victims were identified as Al-Fayoume, a Palestinian-American boy who had recently turned six, and his mother, Hanaan Shahin.
According to the organization, they had lived on the ground floor of the house for two years and said the suspect was their landlord.
Citing text messages from the mother to the boy’s father, the suspect is said to have shouted, “You Muslims must die!” before the stabbing, according to CAIR-Chicago.
The Muslim civil rights organization called the crime “our worst nightmare” and part of a disturbing rise in hate calls and emails since violence erupted in the Middle East.
Speaking to the victims’ family members, CAIR executive director Ahmed Rehab said Czuba choked Shahin after they let him into their apartment.
She briefly fled to the bathroom to call 911, but when she returned, Czuba had found her son and murdered him, Rehab claimed.
Speaking to the victims’ family members, CAIR executive director Ahmed Rehab said Czuba choked Shahin after they let him into their apartment
‘[Al-Fayoume] “I have paid the price for the atmosphere of hate, otherization and dehumidification that I believe we see here in the United States because of the irresponsible leadership and the one-sided, one-sided statements that we see in the media,” said Rehab said.
He then compared the atmosphere that led to Al-Fayoume’s death to the atmosphere following the September 11 terrorist attacks.
“We warned not to make the same mistake we made in the post-9/11 period,” he added.
“We were promised that we wouldn’t fall back into this ugly, dark world again, and here we are. “Ultimately the blame lies with the perpetrator, I blame the murderer for the murder.”
However, he still felt that the media and politics had influenced Czuba, who he said had already interacted with the family on several occasions and had not aroused suspicion.
Czuba was taken to the Will County Adult Detention Center and is awaiting his first court appearance. It is not known whether he has a lawyer.
Al-Fayoume had just celebrated his sixth birthday in the weeks before his assassination. According to Rehab, he loved football and basketball.
The Hamas terror on October 7th killed over 1,400 Israelis and led to a wave of anti-Semitism in many cities and in academia.