Illinois Landlord Charged with Hate Crimes After Fatally Stabbing a 6-Year-Old Muslim Boy
President Joe Biden condemned the brutal murder of a 6-year-old Muslim boy in Plainfield, Illinois, by a 71-year-old man charged with two counts of a hate crime.
The boy and his mother were stabbed by their landlord, Joseph M. Czuba, authorities say. Czuba allegedly targeted the mother and child due to them being Muslim and the ongoing conflict in the Israel-Hamas War.
CNN reports:
A Chicago-area landlord was arrested and charged with murder and hate crimes after authorities said he stabbed and killed a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounded his mother, allegedly because the tenants are Muslim.
Joseph M. Czuba, 71, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of a hate crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, the Will County, Illinois, Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. The US Justice Department has also opened a federal hate crime investigation into the attack, US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Sunday.
The sheriff’s office said Czuba did not make a statement to detectives but investigators determined the victims were “targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis.”
The family is Palestinian and “came to America seeking what we all seek—a refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace,” according to the White House.
The White House released a statement on Sunday condemning the brutal and horrific act of hate:
Jill and I were shocked and sickened to learn of the brutal murder of a six-year-old child and the attempted murder of the child’s mother in their home yesterday in Illinois.
The child’s Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seek—a refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace.
This 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. 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.
We join everyone here at the White House in sending our condolences and prayers to the family, including for the mother’s recovery, and to the broader Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim American communities.
Watch the Fox & Friends report on this awful story above, via Fox News.
