Plainfield (Illinois): A 71-year-old landlord in Plainfield, Illinois stabbed over 20 times a Palestinian-American woman and her 6-yr-old son in what is believed to be an anti-Muslim hate attack in the United States amid the ongoing war between Israeli Zionists and Palestinians in the Middle East.
The gruesome attack on the woman and child took place in the morning on Saturday October 14, 2023 in Plainfield a village in Will and Kendall counties, Illinois, about 3 hour drive to Chicago, local officials said.
Authorities said the woman managed to call 911 as she fought off the landlord, named by the sheriff's office as 71-year-old Joseph Czuba.
The child, who was stabbed 26 times, died whereas his mother, 32, is battling for her life at a hospital, according to a statement from the Will County sheriff's office in Illinois. Authorities confirmed that both were attacked because of their Muslim faith.
"The six-year-old boy was stabbed twenty-six (26) times throughout his body. The knife used in this attack is a twelve-inch serrated military style knife that has a seven-inch blade", The Will County Sheriff’s office said in a statement. “Joseph Czuba was charged with First Degree Murder, Attempted First Degree Murder, Hate Crime (2 counts), and Aggravated Battery with a Deadly Weapon. Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis”, the Sheriff said. "Joseph Czuba did not make any statements to detectives regarding his involvement in this heinous attack. Despite the suspect not providing a statement to detectives, personnel were able to gather enough information through interviews and evidence to formally charge Joseph Czuba with numerous criminal offenses", the Sheriff said in the detailed statement posted on Facebook.
"The six-year-old boy was stabbed twenty-six (26) times throughout his body. The knife used in this attack is a twelve-inch serrated military style knife that has a seven-inch blade", The Will County Sheriff’s office said in a statement.
“Joseph Czuba was charged with First Degree Murder, Attempted First Degree Murder, Hate Crime (2 counts), and Aggravated Battery with a Deadly Weapon. Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis”, the Sheriff said.
"Joseph Czuba did not make any statements to detectives regarding his involvement in this heinous attack. Despite the suspect not providing a statement to detectives, personnel were able to gather enough information through interviews and evidence to formally charge Joseph Czuba with numerous criminal offenses", the Sheriff said in the detailed statement posted on Facebook.
The Sheriff's office did not give further details or the victims' nationality, but the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) described the child as Palestinian-American.
According to text messages sent by the mother to the father of the boy, which were shared with CAIR, the largest Muslim civil rights organization in the US, when the woman opened the door, the landlord attempted to choke her, then stabbed her, yelling:
“You Muslims must die!”
The attack was "our worst nightmare," CAIR said in a statement.
US President Joe Biden condemned the killing of the boy as a "horrific act of hate", after authorities charged the man with murder and hate crimes for an attack allegedly linked to the war between Israel and Hamas.
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