An Illinois landlord is in custody this morning for first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and two counts related to hate crimes.
Joseph Czuba, 71, allegedly knocked on his unsuspecting tenant's door on Saturday before stabbing a child to death and severely injuring the boy's mother. Authorities are calling the attack a hate crime, motivated by the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
By the time Will County, Illinois, sheriff's deputies arrived, they found a slightly injured Czuba sitting on the ground outside the residence.
Inside the home, they discovered two victims with “multiple stab wounds to their chest, torso, and upper extremities,” according to a statement from the sheriff's office.
One, 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume, couldn't be saved, having been stabbed 26 times with a “twelve-inch serrated military-style knife that has a seven-inch blade.” The boy's mother was stabbed more than one dozen times but is expected to recover.
The Washington Post reports:
On Saturday, a week after Hamas militants launched a devastating attack on Israel, Czuba allegedly knocked on the Palestinian family's door just after 11 a.m. When the mother, Hanaan Shahin, answered, Czuba assaulted her with a serrated military-style knife while yelling anti-Muslim statements, forcing her to run to the bathroom to call 911, according to local authorities and the family's statements at a news conference on Sunday.
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“Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslims and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis,” the statement said.
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President Biden said in a statement that he was “sickened” to hear of the deadly attack in Illinois, which “stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are.”
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The attack came a week after Hamas militants raided communities in southern Israel, killing at least 1,400 people there and injuring more than 3,842, authorities said. Palestinian officials said 2,670 people in Gaza have been killed and 9,600 wounded after Israel began a bombing campaign ahead of an expected ground invasion.
Over the weekend, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned about growing terror threats on U.S. soil following Hamas' attacks in Israel. At a law enforcement conference, Wray urged officials to “stay vigilant” amid an “increase in reported threats.”
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What a complete ass. Tell me Czuba, what in god’s name does a child in the US have to do with what Hamas did in Israel?! This attack makes you no better that the savages who murdered Israeli citizens, including children and women. You are just as much a savage as they are!
Biden was “sickened” by this one hateful attack. How does he fell about the THOUSANDS of Christians being raped and killed by Muslims all over the world every day!
But then this demented fool would have to think and that is not happening!