Man killed Muslim boy and wounded woman in hate crime motivated by Israeli-Hamas war, police say
Chicago (PTI): A 71-year-old Illinois man accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old boy and seriously wounding a 32-year-old woman was charged with a hate crime Sunday. Police allege he singled out the victims because of their Islamic faith and as a 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 driven by antisemitic or Islamophobic sentiments. Jewish and Muslim groups have reported an increase of hateful and threatening rhetoric on social media. In the Chicago case, officers found the woman and boy late Saturday morning at a home in an unincorporated area of Plainfield Township, southwest of the city, the Will County Sheriff's Office said in a statement on social media.
The boy was pronounced dead at a hospital. The woman had multiple stab wounds and was expected to survive, according to the statement. An autopsy on the child showed he had been stabbed dozens of times.
"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's statement said.
According to the Will County sheriff's office, the woman had called 911 to report that her landlord had attacked her with a knife, adding she then ran into a bathroom and continued to fight him off.
The man suspected in the attack was found Saturday outside the home and "sitting upright outside on the ground near the driveway of the residence" with a cut on his forehead, authorities said.
Joseph M. 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, according to the sheriff's office. He was in custody Sunday and awaiting a court appearance.
Attempts to reach Czuba or a family member were unsuccessful Sunday. His home phone number was unlisted. Messages left for possible relatives in online records and on social media were not immediately returned. The sheriff's office and county public defender's office did not immediately return messages about Czuba's legal representation.
Authorities did not release the names of the two victims.
But a man identifying himself as the boy's paternal uncle, Yousef Hannon, spoke at a news conference Sunday hosted by the Chicago chapter Council on American-Islamic Relations. There the boy was identified as Wadea Al-Fayoume, a Palestinian-American boy who had recently turned 6. The organization identified the other victim as the boy's mother.
"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, because this is what we are," said Hannon, a Palestinian-American who emigrated to the US in 1999 to work, including as a public school teacher.
The Muslim civil liberties organization called the crime "our worst nightmare," and part of a disturbing spike in hate calls and emails since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The group cited text messages exchanged among family members that showed the attacker had made disparaging remarks about Muslims.
"Palestinians basically, again, with their hearts broken over what's happening to their people," said Ahmed Rehab, the group's executive director, "have to also worry about the immediate safety of life and limb living here in this most free of democracies in the world."
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MP Raghav Chadha's Z-plus security cover withdrawn by Punjab govt
Chandigarh (PTI): Days after a verbal spat between MP Raghav Chadha and the AAP over his removal from the post of deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, the Punjab government has withdrawn his Z-plus category security cover, it has been learnt.
Chadha is a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab and was accorded by the state government a Z-plus category security cover.
The cover was withdrawn a few days ago, sources said.
The Aam Aadmi Party on April 2 announced the replacement of Chadha with MP Ashok Mittal for the post of deputy leader in Rajya Sabha.
Chadha said he had been "silenced, not defeated", attracting a retort by his party, which accused him of engaging in "soft PR" and restraining himself from raising his voice against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Centre in Parliament.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said he believed Chadha was "compromised" for denying the party whip.
"If Chadha is unwilling to speak on issues like the 'deletion' of votes in West Bengal, stage a walkout from Parliament on important issues or raise a voice against the arrest of several AAP volunteers and leaders in Gujarat, then it is breaking the party line and going against the party whip," Mann earlier said.
Punjab AAP leaders, including Cabinet minister Harpal Singh Cheema, too attacked Chadha, accusing him of failing to raise the state's issues in Parliament.
Responding earlier, Chadha shared a video showing his interventions on key issues affecting Punjab.
Meanwhile, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Congress criticised the AAP government over the withdrawal of Chadha's Z-plus security cover.
SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia alleged that a government which claims to represent ordinary households has completely "politicised" the Punjab Police.
He demanded that the DGP explain the grounds Chadha was earlier granted security and now its withdrawal.
"Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Arvind Kejriwal are misusing the Punjab Police on a large scale for political interests. While police and vigilance agencies are being used against political opponents, the force is not being deployed adequately for the safety of Punjab's people," Majithia alleged in a statement.
He claimed that Chadha was also given a residence in Chandigarh.
Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said the BJP and AAP may pretend to be at loggerheads, but they are two sides of the same coin, "misusing agencies" to settle political scores.
"When it suits them, they scratch each other's back, the security cover to Raghav Chadha exposes this convenient nexus," he said.
"Both have conveniently buried cases like DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar and (former minister) Laljit Singh Bhullar, where no real action has been taken. People can see through this charade, this isn't law taking its course , it's pure 'noora kushti'. Punjabis know that it is collusive politics," Bajwa said on X.
