Wadea and the 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy stabbed to death in an apparent anti-Muslim hate crime: Evidence from a Chicago man’s landlord
“In this heightened environment, there’s no question we’re seeing an increase in reported threats, and we’ve got to be on the lookout, especially for lone actors who may take inspiration from recent events to commit violence of their own,” Wray said, speaking at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference in San Diego on Sunday.
“Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East,” the statement read.
Authorities say the family’s landlord Joseph M. Czuba, 71, attacked Wadea and his mother because they were Muslim. Czuba is facing hate crimes and other charges in Illinois.
The organization hosted a news conference on Sunday where the boy’s father appeared. The group said the father had shared text messages with them from the mother describing the incident.
Deputies responding to the scene found the suspect, identified as Joseph M. Czuba, sitting outside the residence with a cut on his forehead. He was later taken to a local area hospital for treatment.
The woman was transported to the hospital in serious condition, with over a dozen stab wounds to her body, and is expected to survive. The boy was pronounced dead at the hospital, the sheriff’s office said. An autopsy found the boy was stabbed 26 times.
Both victims, a 32-year-old woman and 6-year-old boy, were found with multiple stab wounds to their chest, torso and upper extremities, inside a residence in the unincorporated Plainfield Township outside of Chicago, the Will County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on social media.
A 71-year-old man from Illinois, accused of fatally stabbing a boy and seriously injuring a woman because of their Islamic faith and the Israel-Hamas war, has been charged with a hate crime, authorities said.
Mourners gathered outside Chicago on Monday for the funeral of Wadea Al-Fayoume, the 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy who was stabbed to death in his home late last week in an apparent anti-Muslim hate crime.
Hanaan Shahin, Wadea’s mother, is expected to survive after being seriously wounded in the Saturday morning attack.
A Prayer Service for Israel and Israel after Wadea’s Assault: The Revised Case of James E. Czuba in Will County Court
A prayer service was held at a Bridgeview, Ill., mosque Monday afternoon, drawing dozens of mourners, some of whom waved Palestinian flags, WBEZ’s Anna Savchenko reported.
Savchenko noted that Muslim faith leaders who addressed the crowd decried the biased news coverage and attacked the stabbing as an assault on all Muslims.
The executive director of the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said that the person who said ‘You Muslims must die’ did not send a message to the boy or the mother. This was to all of us. We were all stabbed that day.”
The father said that he had allowed the boy to swim in the makeshift pool and bring his toys but it wasn’t until he watched the news and heard statements that something changed, Rehab said.
The war between Israel and Hamas began a week ago with the U.S. government warning that the conflict could lead to increased threats against Jews and Muslims at home.
Wadea’s killing drew widespread condemnation from elected officials, from President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who attended the funeral.
Czuba was in Will County court on Monday, where he was read his eight felony charges, which included murder, aggravated battery and hate crimes.
Prosecutors at the hearing said Czuba had been listening to news about the war between Israel and Hamas on conservative talk radio and grew increasingly worried about his safety, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
The outlet said Czuba’s wife told investigators that her husband believed Shahin was going to call Palestinian friends to harm them.