Joseph Czuba: No bail for suspect in killing of Muslim boy in Illinois

Murder suspect Joseph Czuba

The man accused of murder and hate crimes after allegedly stabbing a six-year-old Muslim boy to death must be kept behind bars without bail, a judge has ruled.

Joseph Czuba, 71, is accused of killing Wadea Al-Fayoume and seriously wounding his mother in Plainfield, Illinois.

The landlord allegedly targeted the pair, who were his tenants, because of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict and because they were Muslims.

The boy was laid to rest on Monday.

Mr Czuba appeared in court on Monday dressed in red jail clothes and with matted, white hair. He spoke only briefly to confirm that he would need a court-ordered public defender.

In addition to being held without bail, Mr Czuba was ordered to have no contact with Wadea's mother, 32-year-old Hanaan Shahin. He is due back in court on 30 October.

In court, prosecutors said that Mr Czuba had "believed he was in danger and she [Ms Shahin] was going to call Palestinian friends to come and harm them" and that the electricity grid would go down because of an unspecified attack, according to the Chicago Tribune.

According to authorities, Mr Czuba - the pair's landlord - attacked them both with a large, military-style knife.

Despite being stabbed more than a dozen times, Ms Shahin was able to flee to a bathroom and call police. She is expected to survive.

Her son, Wadea, was stabbed more than two dozen times and was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

At a news conference on Monday, one of the boy's uncles said that Mr Czuba once "loved" Wadea and "used to bring him toys".

He added that he believed Mr Czuba had become enraged due to coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, including claims that Israeli babies had been beheaded by Hamas fighters.

"That was not true," said the uncle, who did not give his name. "Our officials need to come out and say something".

Reports that Hamas militants decapitated babies have circulated on social media and in some news reports. But a spokesman for the Israeli Defense Force told CNN last week he could not confirm the reports, and they have not been independently verified.

Six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume celebrated his birthday a few weeks ago

When police arrived at the scene, Mr Czuba was sitting on the ground outside the property with a cut visible on his face, according to police. He provided no statement to detectives during an initial round of questioning.

A funeral service was held on Monday afternoon in the town of Bridgeview, which is sometimes referred to as "Little Palestine" because of its large Palestinian-American population. Several hundred people were in attendance at the event, which was held amid a strong police presence.

Speaking at the funeral, 24-year-old state representative Nabeela Syed - who represents the town of Palatine and other northern Chicago suburbs - said that "this did not happen in a vacuum".

"There has been a lot of anti-Muslim, anti-Palestine language being spewed," she said. "This is a very unfortunate example of how words have consequences and words can kill. The perpetrator made it unquestionable about his motivations and intentions of stabbing this boy".

"We've seen so much hatred in the past few days," added Ms Syed. "It reminds me of growing up in that post 9/11 world where Muslims didn't feel safe either".

Sadia Awab, a local mother of three who attended the funeral, told the BBC that she blamed some in government and media for "spewing lies" that "are causing hate".

"I'm shocked, but I'm not surprised," she said, adding that her family is now taking extra safety measures. "We know this will continue."

Some community members explicitly blamed anti-Palestinian rhetoric for the murder.

A makeshift memorial - which included a stuffed Spider-man figure and other children's toys - stood at the scene of the crime early Monday.

In the backyard of the property, large piles of rubbish and more children's toys were also visible. Crosses - apparently put up by Mr Czuba - could be seen across the property.

More than 1,400 people were killed in Israel when Hamas crossed the border from the Gaza Strip to attack civilians and soldiers.

In Gaza, nearly 2,700 people have been killed by Israel's bombing, Palestinian authorities say, with an estimated 1,000 missing under rubble.

On Sunday, the FBI said it had seen an increase in reported threats in the US since Hamas launched its attack more than a week ago.

Most have been deemed not credible, a senior FBI official said. Both Jewish and Muslim institutions have been targeted.

Following the incident in Plainfield, the head of the Chicago office of the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Ahmed Rehab, said that Wadea "paid the price for the atmosphere of hate and otherisation and dehumanisation that frankly I think we are seeing here in the United States,"