US President Joe Biden on Sunday condemned the killing of a six-year-old Muslim boy who was stabbed to death near Chicago, denouncing a “horrible act of hate” that police said was linked to the war between Israel and Hamas stands.
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The child, who suffered 26 stab wounds on Saturday, died in hospital. His 32-year-old mother is expected to survive, according to a statement from the Will County Sheriff’s Office in Northeast Illinois, which called the attack “heinous.”
“Investigators were able to determine that the two victims of this violent attack were targeted by the suspect because they are Muslims and because a conflict between Hamas and Israelis is ongoing in the Middle East,” the statement said, indicating that the The killing took place about 40 miles west of Chicago.
In a statement released on Sunday, Mr. Biden confirmed that the woman was the boy’s mother and said her “Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seek: a refuge to live in peace.” , to learn and to pray”.
“This terrible act of hate has no place in America and contradicts our core values: freedom to pray without fear, freedom to believe and freedom to be,” the American president added.
According to the sheriff’s office, the mother managed to call 911 while fighting off her attacker, Joseph Czuba, 71.
During the autopsy, a serrated military knife with a 15 cm long blade was removed from the child’s stomach.
“Our Worst Nightmare”
Upon arrival, police found Joseph Czuba sitting near the entrance to the apartment where the attack occurred. His forehead was marked by a gash. He was taken to hospital for treatment before being charged with murder, attempted murder and two counts of hate crime.
“Officers located the two victims inside the apartment, in a bedroom. Both victims had multiple stab wounds to their chest, torso and upper extremities,” the sheriff’s statement said.
The head of the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Ahmed Rehab, told reporters that the attacker knocked on the victim’s door and initially tried to choke the woman, telling her: “You Muslims must die.” quotes text messages that the woman sent from the hospital bed to the father of the murdered boy.
This attack is “our worst nightmare,” CAIR emphasized in a press release.
The war between Israel and Hamas, which has claimed thousands of lives on both sides, mostly civilians, was sparked after a bloody and unprecedented attack by Hamas on October 7 on Israeli territory in the Gaza Strip under the control of the Palestinian Islamist movement.