Ahmed Rehab, left, executive director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, embraces Odey Al-Fayoume, father of Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, at a news conference at the Muslim Community Center on Chicago's Northwest Side, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. Authorities say a 71-year-old Illinois man has been charged with a hate crime, accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounding a 32-year-old woman, in Plainfield Township, because of their Islamic faith and the Israel-Hamas war. The Council on American-Islamic Relations identified the victims as Wadea Al-Fayoume and his mother. (Jim Vondruska/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
By Sophia Tareen
A 6-year-old boy was being buried Monday and his mother was hospitalized with stab wounds after their 71-year-old landlord attacked them because of their Muslim faith and high emotions over the Israel-Hamas war globally and nationwide, police said.
Jewish and Muslim groups have reported an increase of hateful rhetoric in the wake of the war, and Chicago-area landlord Joseph Czuba had made disparaging remarks about Muslims to the Palestinian-American family, according to the local Council on American-Islamic Relations.
On Saturday, the 32-year-old mother called 911 to report that her landlord had attacked her with a knife. She ran into a bathroom and kept fighting him off, the Will County Sheriff’s Office said.
“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 Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis,” the sheriff's statement said.
The man suspected in the attack was found “sitting upright outside on the ground near the driveway of the residence” with a cut on his forehead, authorities said.
Czuba, of Plainfield, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He was scheduled to appear Monday in a court in Joliet.
Attempts to reach Czuba or a family member were unsuccessful Sunday, and the sheriff’s office and county public defender's office did not immediately return messages about Czuba's legal representation.
Wadea Al-Fayoume had just turned 6, his paternal uncle Yousef Hannon said.
“We are not animals, we are humans. We want people to see us as humans, to feel us as humans, to deal with us as humans,” said Hannon, who migrated to the U.S. in 1999 to work as a public school teacher, among other jobs.
“Wadea should be heading to school in the morning. Instead, his parents will wake up without their son,” lllinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker said.
The Justice Department opened a hate crime investigation into the events leading up to the attack, Attorney General Merrick Garland said.
President Joe Biden said in a statement: “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.”
FBI Director Chris Wray said on a call with reporters Sunday that the FBI is also moving quickly to mitigate the threats.
A senior FBI official who spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Bureau said the majority of the threats that the FBI has responded to were not judged to be credible, adding that the FBI takes them all seriously nonetheless.
Associated Press reporters Jesse Bedayn in Denver and Eric Tucker in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
Updated October 16, 2023 at 12:21 a.m. ET with the latest details.
Tensions in Ukraine continue to rise. According to NATO and U.S. officials, Russian troops are still being built up despite Moscow's claims of de-escalation. However, Ukraine does not believe the troops are enough to mount an invasion. The government in Kyiv has also reported several cyber attacks against its defense agencies and banks which is the largest attack in the country's history. Foreign Affairs Reporter based in Ukrain, Terrell Starr, joined Cheddar to discuss more
A Senate bill unveiled on Wednesday looks to tackleonline safety for children by regulating Big Tech and social media platforms to deter users from content that can harm their mental health. Irene Ly, a policy counsel for the age-based ratings and review organization Common Sense Media, joined Cheddar News to break down the potential of the Kids Online Safety Act. "We can't be imposing such a big burden on parents to be doing it all on theirselves," Ly said. "I think you also have to keep in mind that parents often didn't grow up with social media, so they don't understand what it's like to be addicted to social media or really understand how they work."
The Federal Reserve minutes from its January meeting are indicating it's sticking to an interest rate hike in March, but what does the report coupled with ongoing inflation mean for investors going forward? Scott Brown, a market strategist at LPL Financial, joined Cheddar News to break down the minutes and talk about how investors might navigate the rest of the year. "it seems like the market is kind of inclined to trade off these headlines, really, through the first half of the year," he said. "And then, oh, don't forget, we've got midterm elections, which always tend to add a little bit of volatility in the second half of the year." Brown noted that the path forward for stock investors in 2022 would be "rockier" than last year.
Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) have introduced a new bill to afford greater protection to minors on social media. The genesis of the Kids Online Safety Act came from a Facebook whistleblower case exposing the harm apps can have on the mental health of young girls.
The Chinese government brought the sitcom "Friends" back to its streaming services. However, it had instances of LGBTQ+ references left out, after the series had been banned on Chinese streaming platforms for years.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared a national public order emergency as a 'last resort' to restore order after protests have significantly disrupted daily life and impacted the local economy since the protests began. It is the first time in 50 years a Canadian government has taken this type of action. Myah Ward, breaking news reporter at Politico, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
Almost a decade after facing a parent's worst nightmare, the families of the young students killed in the Sandy Hook School shooting reached a settlement with gun manufacturer Remington, makers of the Bushmaster AR-15 used in the crime. David Pucino, deputy chief counsel, Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence joined Cheddar News to discuss the families' case and how its strategy brought about the legal settlement. "They built a really great case showing the way that Bushmaster developed its advertising to drive sales using those toxic messages.
A new analysis reveals that for more than two decades, the West has been the driest it has ever been since 800 A.D. The drought which began in 2000 has brought more devastating wildfires and draining water reserves well below healthy levels. Climate Scientists and Adjunct Associate Research Scientist at Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University,Benjamin Cook, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
