In Chicago, a landlord killed a 6-year-old Muslim boy and wounded his mother in a hate crime.

In Chicago on October 14, an Illinois landlord killed a 6-year-old Muslim boy and seriously injured his mother in a hate attack motivated by the war between Israel and Hamas, reports AP.

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An Illinois landlord has been charged with a hate crime. Police and relatives said he singled out the victims because of their faith and in response to the war between Israel and Hamas.

In recent days, police in US cities and federal authorities have been on high alert for violence fueled by anti-Semitic or Islamophobic sentiments. FBI officials and Jewish and Muslim groups reported an increase in hateful and threatening rhetoric.

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In the Chicago case, police found a 32-year-old woman and a boy late on the morning of Oct. 14 at a home in an unincorporated area of ​​Plainfield Township, about 65 kilometers southwest of Chicago.

Relatives and a Muslim civil liberties and human rights group identified the slain boy as the son of the wounded woman.

The boy was pronounced dead at the hospital. The woman had multiple stab wounds but is expected to survive. An autopsy of the child revealed that he had been stabbed dozens of times.

“Detectives were able to determine that both victims of this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect because they were Muslim and because of the ongoing Middle East conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis,” the sheriff's statement said.

According to the Will County Sheriff's Office, the woman called 911 and reported that the homeowner had attacked her with a knife, adding that she then ran to the bathroom and continued to fight him off.

The male suspect was found Oct. 14 outside the home "sitting on the ground in the driveway" with a cut on his forehead, authorities said.

Joseph M. Chuba, 71, of Plainfield, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crimes and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, according to the sheriff's office. An initial hearing in the case was scheduled for Oct. 16 at the county courthouse in Joliet.

Authorities have not released the names of the two victims.

But the boy's paternal uncle, Yusef Hannon, spoke at an Oct. 15 news conference organized by the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which was attended by the boy's father. There, the boy was identified as Wadeya Al-Fayoum, a Palestinian-American boy who had recently turned 6 years old. The organization identified the other victim as the boy's mother.

“We are not animals, we are people. We want people to see us as people, feel us as people, treat us like people because we are who we are,” said Hannon, a community activist, school teacher, and Palestinian-American who immigrated to the United States in 1999 year for work.

Hate threats

The Muslim civil liberties organization called the crime "our worst nightmare" and part of alarming hostilities since the war between Israel and Hamas began, such as hate speeches and emails. The group cited text messages exchanged between family members. They showed that the attacker made disparaging remarks about Muslims.

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“Palestinians are essentially already heartbroken by what is happening to their people,” said Ahmed Rehab, the group's executive director. “They must also worry about their immediate safety, their lives and health here in this most democratic country in the world.”

In response to the increased threats, Illinois State Police are communicating with federal law enforcement and reaching out to Muslim communities and religious leaders to offer support, according to an Oct. 15 press release from Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

“Taking the life of a six-year-old child in the name of bigotry is nothing short of evil,” Pritzker said. — Vadea had to go to school in the morning. Instead, his parents will wake up without their son. It wasn't just murder—it was a hate crime. And every Illinoisan, including our Muslim, Jewish and Palestinian neighbors, deserves to live free from the threat of such evil.”

President Joe Biden echoed that sentiment on Oct. 15.

“This horrific act of hatred has no place in America and goes against our fundamental values: freedom from fear in how we pray, what we believe and who we are,” he said.

The Justice Department has launched a hate crimes investigation into the events leading up to the attack, Attorney General Merrick Garland said.

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FBI Director Chris Wray said the FBI is also moving quickly to mitigate threats.

A senior FBI official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said most of the threats the FBI responded to were not considered credible, adding that the FBI nonetheless takes them seriously.

The official also said agents were encouraged last week to be proactive in communicating with religious leaders. The official said the goal is not to make anyone feel like a victim, but to ask clergy and others to report anything that seems suspicious to law enforcement.

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