‘Mom, I’m fine’: Last words of six-year-old Palestinian-American boy who was stabbed to death in suspected hate crime
A six-year-old Palestinian-American boy’s last words were “mom, I’m fine” after he was stabbed to death in a suspected hate crime in Illinois over the weekend, his uncle has said.
Mourners gathered for the funeral of Wadea al Fayoume on Monday, hours after the suspect made his initial appearance in court.
Police have said Wadea and his mother Hanaan Shahin, who is being treated in hospital after suffering “over a dozen stab wounds”, were targeted “due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and Israelis“.
They were attacked by their landlord on Saturday in Plainfield Township, Will County, about 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Chicago.
The boy was stabbed 26 times while Ms Shahin, 32, suffered multiple wounds. Ms Shahin was unable to attend the funeral while she is treated in hospital but is expected to survive.
Joseph Czuba, 71, who has been charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of hate crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, had made an initial appearance at Will County Court hours before the funeral.
Wadea al Fayoume’s father, Oday al Fayoume, right, hugs his uncle Mahmoud Yousef
‘It is something we’ve tried to warn against’
Mourners gathered for Wadea’s funeral at the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview, Illinois, a community southwest of Chicago known as “Little Palestine” for its heavy concentration of Palestinian-Americans.
Mahmoud Yousef, Wadea’s uncle, said in a news conference outside the mosque: “He’s a six-year-old kid. As any other six-year-old kid, he likes to play games.
“He’s a very kind kid. He likes to jump up and down.”
Mr Yousef added: “We received a text message from his mom, that when he was stabbed, his last words to his mum: ‘Mom, I’m fine.’ You know what? He is fine. He’s in a better place.”
In the basement of the mosque, women and children huddled and cried during the news conference.
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Funeral held for six-year-old killed in alleged hate crime
Mourners place flowers at the grave of Wadea al Fayoume
Dozens were in attendance for the service including two men who waved Palestinian flags before the group chanted: “Free, Free Palestine.”
The killing comes against the backdrop of a fresh crisis in the Middle East after a deadly attack by Hamas militants on Israeli civilians a week ago and subsequent retaliation by Israel in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
The conflict has put Jewish and Palestinian Muslim communities in the United States on edge and fearful of a potential backlash against them.
Speaking after the attack on Wadea and his mother, Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said on Monday: “This is a heavy day. It is a worst nightmare come true. It is something we’ve tried to warn against.
“It pains me that the sacrificial lamb to this atmosphere was this beautiful young six-year-old boy.”
Mr Rehab added that Ms Shahin came from the West Bank to the United States 12 years ago and his father immigrated nine years ago.
Mourners gathered for the emotional funeral
Suspect appears in court
Czuba was appointed a public defender and did not enter a plea to the charges he faces during his court appearance.
Before the stabbings, there were no known issues or conflicts between Czuba and the family, CAIR said.
The boy’s father, Oday al Fayoume, told The Daily Beast that Czuba had a “good relationship” with the boy’s mother and son, having built a tree house for the small child outside the home they rented from him.
“He is an angel. Basically a small angel in the form of a person,” El-Fayoume said of his son.
“It is hard to picture this man holding a knife about to stab my son.”
The boy’s father received text messages from the child’s mother while she was hospitalized, describing the attack and identifying the assailant, Mr Rehab said.
He added: “He asked his wife … what happened,” Rehab said. “He knocked on the door and attempted to choke her and said, ‘You Muslims must die’ and stabbed her.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland late on Sunday said the US Justice Department would open a federal hate-crime
investigation into the attack.
It’s 5.30am, but the car park outside a laundrette in south central Los Angeles is already bustling.
A woman is setting up a stand selling tacos on the pavement and the sun is beginning to rise behind the palm trees.
A group of seven women and two men are gathered in a circle, most wearing khaki green t-shirts.
The leader, a man named Francisco “Chavo” Romero, begins by asking how everyone is feeling. “Angry,” a few of them respond. “Proud of the community for pushing back,” says another.
Ron, a high school history teacher, issues a rallying cry. “This is like Vietnam,” he says. “We’re taking losses, but in the end we’re going to win. It’s a war.”
Francisco ‘Chavo’ Romero leads a volunteer group, attempting to warn people ahead of ICE raids
This is what the resistance against Donald Trump’s immigration policy looks like here. In the past month, immigration and customs enforcement agents – known as ICE – have intensified their raids on homes and workplaces across Los Angeles.
Since the beginning of June, nearly 2,800 undocumented immigrants have been arrested in the city, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The previous monthly high was just over 850 arrests in May this year.
Police use tear gas against protesters, angry at a recent immigration raid at a farm in Camarillo, California. Pic: AP
Videos have circulated online of people being tackled to the ground in the car park of DIY shops, in car washes and outside homes. The videos have prompted outrage, protests and a fightback.
“Chavo” and Ron belong to a group of organised volunteers called Union del Barrio. Every morning, a group of them meet, mostly in areas which have high immigrant populations.
The day I meet them, they’re in an area of LA which is heavily Latino. Armed with walkie talkies to communicate with each other, megaphones to warn the community and leaflets to raise awareness they set out in cars in different directions.
A volunteer from Union del Barrio shows Sky’s Martha Kelner how they try to stay one step ahead of ICE agents
They’re looking for cars used by ICE agents to monitor “targets”.
“That vehicle looks a little suspicious,” says Ron, pointing out a white SUV with blacked-out windows, “but there’s nobody in it”.
An elderly Latino man is standing on a street corner, cutting fruit to sell at his stall. “He’s the exact target that they’re looking for,” Ron says. “That’s what they’re doing now. The low-hanging fruit, the easy victim. And so that is proving to be more successful for their quotas.”
This man, selling fruit on a street corner in LA, is a potential target of immigration agents
In the end, it turns out to be a quiet morning in this part of LA, no brewing immigration operations. But elsewhere in the city, dawn raids are happening.
ICE agents are under pressure from the White House to boost their deportation numbers in line with Donald Trump’s campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration.
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In June, tear gas and rubber bullets were fired at protestors demonstrating against immigration raids
Maria’s husband Javier was one of those arrested in LA. He came to the United States from Mexico when he was 19 and is now 58.
The couple have three grown-up children and two grandchildren. But Javier’s work permit expired two years ago, according to Maria and so he was living here illegally.
Maria’s husband Javier was arrested after his work permit expired
She shows me a video taken last month when Javier was at work at a car wash in Pomona, an area of LA. He is being handcuffed and arrested by armed and masked ICE agents, forced into a car. He is now being held at a detention centre two hours away.
“I know they’re doing their job,” she says, “but it’s like, ‘you don’t have to do it like that.’ Getting them and, you know, forcing people and pushing them down on the ground. They’re not animals.”
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US troops accused of ‘political stunt’ after park raid
Maria wipes away tears as she explains the impact of his absence for the past four weeks. “It’s been so hard without him,” she says. “You feel alone when you get used to somebody and he’s not there any more. We’ve never been apart for as long as this.”
The family have a lawyer and is appealing for him to remain in the US, but Maria fears he will be sent back to Mexico or even a third country.
Maria fears her husband, who has lived in the US for nearly 40 years, will be sent back to Mexico
“I don’t know what to say to my grandkids because the oldest one, who is five was very attached to his papas, as he calls him. And he’s asking me, ‘When is papa coming home?’ and I don’t know what to say. He’s not a criminal.”
The fear in immigrant communities can be measured by the empty restaurant booths and streets that are far quieter than usual.
People in LA are being asked to report sightings of ICE officials so others can be warned
I meet Soledad at the Mexican restaurant she owns in Hollywood. When I arrive, she’s watching the local news on the TV as yet another raid unfolds at a nearby farm.
She’s shaking her head as ICE agents face off with protesters and military helicopters hover overhead. “I am scared. I am very scared,” she says.
All of her eight employees are undocumented, and four of them are too scared to come into work, she says, in case they get arrested. The process to get papers, she says, is too long and too expensive.
Read more from Sky News:
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Soledad, who owns a Mexican restaurant, plans to hide her illegal workers if immigration officials arrive
“They call me and tell me they are too afraid to come in because immigration is around,” she says.
“I have to work double shifts to be able to make up for their hours, and yes, I am very desperate, and sometimes I cry… We have no sales, and no money to pay their wages.”
There is just one woman eating fajitas at a booth, where there would usually be a lunchtime rush. People are chilled by the raids.
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Soledad says she plans to hide her illegal workers if immigration officials arrive.
“I’ve told them, get inside the fridge, hide behind the stove, climb up where we have a space to store boxes, do not run because they will hunt you down.”
The White House says they’re protecting the country from criminals. ICE agents have been shot at while carrying out operations, their work becoming more dangerous by the day.
The tension here is ratcheting up. Deportation numbers are rising too. But the order from Donald Trump is to arrest even more people living here illegally.
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