USA/ A 71-year-old man is accused of murder and hate crimes

2023-10-16 15:37:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

In the United States, a 71-year-old man was charged Sunday with hate murder on suspicion of stabbing a Muslim woman and her 6-year-old son, who were renting his apartment, more than 20 times. Authorities linked the attack to the war between Israel and Hamas.

The boy, who was stabbed 26 times, died at the hospital, while his 32-year-old mother is expected to survive Saturday's "horrific" attack, according to a statement from the Will County Sheriff's Office. .

On Sunday evening, President Joe Biden expressed through a statement that he and his wife were shocked by this attack, which he calls disgusting.

"This horrific act of hate has no place in America and goes against our fundamental values," the president's statement read.

"As Americans, we must unite and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred. I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hatred. There should be no doubt that in America there is no place for hatred against anyone," he added.

The sheriff's office did not provide details on the nationalities of the victims, but the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said the child was Palestinian-American.

"Authorities have concluded that both victims of this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect because they were Muslim and because of the conflict in the Middle East between Hamas and Israel," the police statement said.

Authorities said the child's mother managed to call 911 while confronting 71-year-old Joseph Czuba.

"The police found two victims inside the apartment in a bedroom. They had received multiple stab wounds in different parts of the body," the sheriff's statement said.

The suspected perpetrator of the crime used a military-style knife that was recovered from the boy's abdomen during the autopsy, the police statement said.

When the police arrived at the scene they found the suspect sitting on the ground in the alley near the house with a gash on his forehead. He is charged with murder, attempted murder and two counts of hate crimes.

"He had knocked on the door of the victim's home and tried to strangle the 32-year-old woman and shouted 'you Muslims must die,'" Ahmed Rehab, head of the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told reporters, referring to the messages that the mother had sent the father of the murdered son from the hospital./ VOA