On Monday, a man who was indicted by an Illinois grand jury on charges of murder attempted murder, and hate crime in connection with an attack on a Palestinian American mother and her young son is expected to appear in court.
At his appearance on eight charges in the indictment that was issued last week, Joseph Czuba, 71, is anticipated to enter a plea. He is accused of hurting Hanaan Shahin on October 14 and fatally stabbing Wadea Al-Fayoume, age 6. According to the authorities, the victims were singled out due to their Muslim faith.
Police were informed by Shahin that Czuba, her landlord in Plainfield, Will County, had attacked them because he was angry about the Israel-Hamas conflict, even though she had asked him to “pray for peace.”
Shahin, 32, is recuperating from many stab injuries. At her son’s funeral on October 16, hundreds of people showed up.
According to the murder charge in Czuba’s indictment, the boy’s death was caused by “exceptionally brutal or heinous behaviour.”
George Lenard, the defence counsel, has stated he will not discuss the matter outside of court. Present in court is Czuba, who is now detained; Joliet is located 50 miles southwest of Chicago.
Shahin said her son was her best friend and urged people to “pray for peace” in a statement released last week by the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Chicago chapter.
The stabbings were a part of the growing animosity in the United States between the Muslim and Jewish populations following the Hamas attacks on Israel.
