A man targeted a 6-year-old boy and his mother for being Muslims and brutally attacked them with a military-style knife, killing the boy and wounding the mother at their home outside Chicago yesterday. Via the New York Times:
The boy, who was stabbed 26 times with a serrated knife with a seven-inch blade, was pronounced dead at a hospital, according to the Will County Sheriff’s Office in Joliet, Ill.
The boy’s mother, 32, was in serious condition with more than a dozen stab wounds, officials said. She was expected to survive. The authorities did not publicly identify the victims.
“Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis,” the Sheriff’s Office said.
His family says he is 6 years old. Officials first reported that he was 8.
At a news conference on Sunday afternoon, Mr. Rehab said that he ultimately blamed the assailant but added that the “lopsided” coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict created an atmosphere that made an attack like this one more likely.
“It wasn’t until he started watching the news and hearing the statements that something had changed,” Mr. Rehab said. “The family had no reason to suspect what would occur.”
President Biden released this statement. Now, this is how you president:
Jill and I were shocked and sickened to learn of the brutal murder of a six-year-old child and the attempted murder of the child’s mother in their home yesterday in Illinois.
The child’s Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seek—a refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace.
This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are.
As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred. I have said repeatedly that I will not be silent in the face of hate. We must be unequivocal. There is no place in America for hate against anyone.
We join everyone here at the White House in sending our condolences and prayers to the family, including for the mother’s recovery, and to the broader Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim American communities.
