A man killed a six-year-old boy this weekend on the outskirts of Chicago (USA) and left his mother seriously injured in what authorities classify as a hate crime, since the victims were Muslims of Palestinian origin and it is thought that he may have acted in response to the war between Israel and Hamas.
The 71-year-old man has been charged with several charges, including murder and a hate crime, the Will County Sheriff’s Office detailed in a statement posted on Facebook.
According to the statement, the boy was stabbed 26 times throughout his body with a 30-centimetre military-style knife. The minor was taken to a hospital in critical condition and there he succumbed to his injuries. The mother suffered more than a dozen stab wounds to her body and she is recovering in the hospital.
The perpetrator, identified by authorities as Joseph M. Czuba, refused to provide information to detectives about the motive for his actions. However, the Sheriff’s Office has concluded that he targeted the victims because of their Muslim religion and because of the war being waged between Israel and Palestinian militias in the Gaza Strip, particularly the Islamist group Hamas. The perpetrator of the attack was the owner of the home where the family was renting, the Sheriff’s Office detailed.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), dedicated to defending Muslim rights in the US, condemned the attack and called it its “worst nightmare.” “Our hearts are heavy, and our prayers are with the child and his mother,” CAIR Chicago director Ahmed Rehab said in a statement.
The crime occurs at a time when US authorities are on alert about the possibility that violence in Israel and the Gaza Strip could lead to acts against the Jewish or Muslim community in the United States.
The American president, Joe Biden, and the first lady, Jill Biden, have condemned Islamophobia after the murder of the minor and have pointed out that “this horrible act of hate has no place in the United States”, since it goes against its values. fundamentals that include freedom of prayer.
“Jill and I are shocked and sickened to learn of the brutal murder of a six-year-old boy and the attempted murder of the boy’s mother yesterday in her Illinois home. The boy’s Palestinian Muslim family came to the United States in search of what that we all seek: a refuge to live, learn and pray in peace,” reads a statement from the White House.
Biden, who has sent his condolences to the family and the Palestinian, Arab and Muslim American communities, has invited the population to unite “and reject Islamophobia and all forms of intolerance and hatred.” “I have said time and time again that I will not remain silent in the face of hate. We must be unequivocal. There is no place in the United States for hate against anyone,” the president stressed.
