6-Year-Old Palestinian-American Boy Stabbed To Death In Suspected Hate Crime In The US
A six-year-old Palestinian-American boy was fatally stabbed 26 times yesterday by a 71-year-old man in the US, the boy’s mother was also injured in what is suspected to be a hate crime.
The suspect, Joseph Czuba, stated that he targeted the two because of their religion and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas, Reuters reported.
The young boy was stabbed with a military-style knife with an 18cm serrated blade, officials informed. Meanwhile, the boy’s mother had several stab wounds but is expected to survive the attack which occurred in the Chicago area.
Czuba was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, accounts of hate crime, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, Reuters wrote.
The victims were allegedly found in a bedroom while Czuba was on the ground outside the floor. According to CNN, the accused is a landlord which would explain the access he had to the victims’ residency.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) identified the boy as Wadea Al-Fayoume and said the woman, Hanaan Shahin, was his mother.
“The Islamophobic rhetoric and anti-Palestinian racism being spread by politicians, media outlets, and social media platforms must stop,” CAIR said on social media.
The family had lived on the ground floor of the house for two years without previous notable issues with the landlord, CNN wrote.
But in texts to the boy’s father from the hospital after the attack, 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,’” CNN continued while quoting CAIR.
Rest In Peace
Images taken from: Al Jazeera and CNN
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